Willie Rennie MSP has officially opened a new Optical Express clinic in St Andrews, improving access to eye care in the town and the surrounding areas. The new Optical Express clinic will bring an important new health service to the centre of St Andrews, providing residents and the local community with access to high quality eye care services without needing to travel.
Optical Express is the UK’s only complete eye care provider and the leading private provider of laser eye surgery, lens replacement and cataract treatment. The new clinic will offer free vision correction surgery consultations and it is anticipated that it will serve NHS as well as private patients. This will enable patients to attend a consultation and be treated within weeks at an Optical Express treatment centre in Scotland. Optical Express have state of the art treatment centres in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness. The new St Andrews clinic has the potential to play a huge role in reducing pressure on overstretched local NHS services, treating patients suffering from issues such as glaucoma, and particularly for patients in need of cataract surgery, for which there are currently long backlogs on NHS waiting lists.
Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, said:
“It is great to see a Scottish owned business thriving, with Optical Express investing in Fife and St Andrews. It was a pleasure to meet the Optical Express team and hear about the work they do to support NHS and private patients in St Andrews. Having had my own experience getting laser eye surgery at Optical Express, it was great to see the high standard of care on offer. The improvement to my vision has been life-changing. Increasing access to community healthcare is a priority in Fife, and this new clinic will make an important contribution to that goal.”
Optical Express CEO and Founder, David Moulsdale, said:
“We are delighted to open our clinic in St Andrews. The opening of this clinic is part of our plan to increase the reach of refractive care in the UK, as well as helping to reduce the backlog for ophthalmic care on the NHS. We are proud to bring world class eye care to Fife and serve those who need it most in the community here. I am very proud of all our colleagues who have played a part in ensuring this clinic opening was a huge success.”
The clinic represents a major investment in the town and brings the latest eye care technology to St Andrews. It will create new highly skilled, specialist jobs in Fife as Optical Express recruits new members to join its expert clinical team. In addition, Optical Express is leading the way as a sustainable business in the industry. In line with all Optical Express clinics, the new clinic will highlight to patients the importance of considering sustainability in eye care decisions as well as provide a recycling station for plastic contact lenses and their packaging.