New and Improved Ophthalmic Pathway


On 6th January 2021, Woodthorpe Hospital went live with a new and improved Ophthalmic pathway including the new installation of Surgicube.

The Surgicube equipment provides an ultra-clean airflow across the operating surface and represents the first investment of this kind in Ramsay UK hospitals. Marcus Taylor, Hospital Director at Woodthorpe Hospital said, "This investment made by Ramsay UK in the hospital is a further significant milestone in increasing the responsiveness of Woodthorpe to the requirements of the local community and NHS Nottingham, our capacity for Cataract surgery has now more than doubled and will be invaluable to our GP’s and their patients. This helps to build our reputation for fast effective services and also enables us to locate the service appropriately in the hospital estate to allow excellent pathways, reduced congestion in clinical areas and freeing up theatre capacity for other specialities to access."

Consultant Ophthalmologist Mr Amar Alwitry commented, "In line with Woodthorpe’s drive to improve services they have invested in the state of the art Surgicube to allow the development of a dedicated cataract suite. This suite allows surgeons to significantly expand their cataract service and streamline the care for their patients. As the Medical Advisory Member for Ophthalmology I am delighted with this new service and am grateful to Ramsay for the significant financial investment. I hope we can continue to offer a great and safe service to all our patients, old and new." 

The project has been supported by our new Ophthalmology Pathway Coordinator, Sam Reid and Ophthalmic Practice Manger, Debbie Wright. 

Sam joined the Woodthorpe team earlier this year and has been busy updating the process to ensure maximum patient satisfaction throughout this service. “The facility is allowing the hospital to treat patients in a quick and effective way.   Patients will usually visit the consultant for an initial consultation and be advised of what will happen on the day of surgery.  Biometry tests will be carried out to ensure suitability for this procedure.  Once listed for surgery the patients will visit the hospital via our AMBER pathway.  Most patients spend a few hours with us, making use of the newly refurbished waiting area.  During this time patients complete the required administration and their eyes will be prepared for surgery.  The surgery itself takes around 10-15 minutes.  Follow up appointments are required with the patient’s optician around 6 weeks after surgery.  The whole process is running very effectively with patients extremely pleased with the level of care provided by the Woodthorpe team.”

Debbie Wright, who supports Sam from an administration perspective, was delighted when a close family member was the first patient to access this service. “It has been a great opportunity to be part of this new team and experience first-hand the impact of the hard work and effort that has gone into making this patient journey simple and effective. Surgicube was officially launched on the 6th January 2021 and our leading Ophthalmic Consultants, Mr Aasheet Desai, Mr Amar Alwitry, Mr Maghizh Anandan and Mr Imad Zakieh have been incredibly pleased with the results.”