Easier and quicker access to sight-saving treatments

People living in and around Harrogate now have easier access to advanced eye care and surgery with the opening of a new £700k clinic.

Newmedica, located at 2 Grove Park Court, provides pre-assessments for cataracts surgery and oculoplastic procedures for NHS and private patients, with surgery then carried out at the nearby Newmedica surgical centre in Leeds, just 14 miles away. Free transport to and from the clinic is offered to any NHS cataract patients who need it. The new purpose-built clinic also offers YAG laser treatment on site, which is a method for treating some cases of glaucoma and rare instances when cloudiness occurs following cataracts surgery.  

The opening comes at a time when people have been waiting up to a year or more to have cataract surgery locally. Newmedica Harrogate is helping reduce this wait for NHS treatment while offering more patient choice.

Consultant Ophthalmologist David Dunleavy said: “Our aim is to help more people in and around Harrogate access high-quality, affordable treatment when they need it.”

 David co-owns Newmedica Leeds and Harrogate alongside three other highly experienced consultant ophthalmologists - Mr Aldrin Khan, Mr Kamran Khan, and Mr David Richards, and operations director Steve Kirk.

 He added: “Our Leeds hospital has been operating since 2018, with an excellent reputation for the support it provides to patients and the outcomes they achieve. Being owned and led by the consultants who provide the care means patients are at the heart of every decision. It’s why we offer patients the highest-quality lenses because it leads to the best clinical outcomes.”

 Newmedica’s NHS patients benefit from a superior lens as standard, which helps reduce the likelihood of any further treatment being required. As well as leading to better patient outcomes, the use of this lens by Newmedica clinics nationwide has saved the NHS an estimated £4.5million since 2017.

Patients opting to go private have more lens choice, including multifocal lenses which do away with the need for reading glasses or toric lenses that help with astigmatism. Newmedica Leeds and Harrogate’s team of ophthalmologists also perform a range of oculoplastic procedures for conditions around the eye, such as drooping eyelids or the removal of lumps.

 Steve Kirk, the operations director and partner of Newmedica in Leeds and Harrogate, said: ‘We know there’s increasing demand for ophthalmic services in and around Harrogate and we’re delighted to help more patients have swifter access to quality care through the new local clinic. Our team is committed to fostering a positive working environment and building strong connections with local optometrists and other healthcare professionals to provide the best possible care to patients.’

 Steve has already played an active role within the local eye care community, working as a trustee at the charity Vision Support Harrogate District. The charity, which was established in 1921, supports visually impaired people in Harrogate, Ripon and the surrounding district. The charity seeks to enable visually impaired people to live independently, while also and providing opportunities to meet and interact with other visually impaired people.

The Newmedica clinic is also helping to train tomorrow’s eye surgeons as part of an initiative aimed at easing the NHS’s backlog. This is part of an agreement between independent healthcare providers and the NHS to ensure medical trainees have new opportunities to train in elective surgery or diagnostic activities in the independent sector.

Contact us

For more information, visit www.newmedica.co.uk/clinics/harrogate

or call 01423 223 219.