Eye & Contact Lens Factsheets

THE CONTACT LENS PRACTICE - IT'S HISTORY & AIMS.

We believe our Specialist Practice to be unique in very many ways - we opened our doors in 1973 with not a single patient to see and were legally then not even allowed to advertise our existence in order to gain patients until the Laws changed in 1983. Today we are probably one of the best equipped Contact Lens practices in the country with over 19,000 patients on file. We attribute our success simply to the quality of our staff over the years and the continuing recommendations of our satisfied patients.

AIMS

Geoff Wilson qualified in 1966 with an Honours Degree just when Contact Lenses were becoming increasingly popular and, having been one of the very first to pass final exams which included Contact Lenses he decided to specialise.

After 7 years working for a well known commercial chain in 1973 he decided that he would prefer the harder work but less commercial pressures of Private Practice where patient care and welfare could be nurtured in a Professional Rooms environment free from the 'supermarket style sales' approach which is now all to prevalent.

His stated aim was to provide a dedicated Contact Lens Service second to none, based upon the highest levels of equipment and skills using every Contact Lens design and material with any clinical merit

Today his original 1973 ideals and practice maxim holds as good as ever -
" We will never 'SELL' Contact Lenses but only the vital importance of continuing After Care"
- something all too often patients ignore. Now with the Grandchildren of patients Geoff fitted in the 60's & 70's coming to us as new patients we know this philosophy is the correct one hence, we believe the reason for our continuing success.

MILESTONES IN OUR PROGRESS

9.00 am. Tuesday 13th February 1973 Geoff opened the front door for the first time. One receptionist, one consulting room, one teaching room and one telephone which did not ring once all day.

Wednesday !4th - fitted our first new patient who flew in specially from Paris on his wife's recommendation. Surely a good omen ! He, his Wife and now his two children are still patients and return to us where-ever they roam around the globe!

June 1973. By invitation Geoff joined a panel of 9 other Optometrists to clinically trial the World's very first 'Sleep In' lens, PERMALENS. A British invention of colleague John de Carle, sold to an American Company and launched officially in 1975.

1974. Took on a second Receptionist - after having a family she still works part time in the practice.

1975. Employed a third receptionist who also still works as a locum Optometric Nurse.

1976. Became one of the first practices to start fitting Soft Toric Lenses to correct Astigmatism.

1977. Extended Practice to 4 Consulting Rooms, 2 Teaching Rooms, Workshop and Staffroom facilities.

1978. Employed first qualified professional colleague, a Dispensing Optician.

1980. Staff risen to 5 with over 1000 new patient fittings a year

1983. Advertising became legal but now with 60% of new patients arriving by recommendation it was not needed.

1987. With several other top European Colleagues Geoff Wilson conducted full clinical trials of the new Essilor ES78 Sleep-In soft lens culminating in the presentation of paper at an International Congress in Paris.

1988. One of the first practices to start fitting Acuvue - the first Sleep-In or daily wear frequent replacement lens.

1994. Geoff Wilson designed for Biocompatibles a Soft Toric version of their new Proclear Lens. Proclear Torics were launched World wide in 1995 and now have United States Food & Drugs Approval.

1995. The first practice to invest in the IMAGEnet Digital Retinal Camera for recording the back of the eye

1995. Geoff trained at St Thomas's Hospital in London to advise on Laser Surgery.

1996. Introduced our Harmony Frequent Replacement lenses with CE quality control approval

1998. First practice to acquire a Specular Microscope to view the cells of the back of the cornea under 400 times magnification.

1999. Selected by Johnson & Johnson to clinically trial Sleep-In Acuvue Toric lenses for astigmatism correction.

1999. Chosen by CIBA Vision to be one of the first to fit their new Night & Day 30 Day Sleep- In lens.

2002 onwards.

We advise without bias on CONTACT LENSES, LASER SURGERY & GLASSES

We aim to continue to lead the field ---

--------------specialising we never turn anyone away however complex.

Our maxim remains as always, ' We don't sell Contact Lenses - we sell service '