Laser clinics criticised for giving poor advice

A new report from Which? has found that a third of laser eye surgery consultations were of poor quality.

Undercover researchers visited 18 laser eye surgery clinics to study their selling procedures and assess the quality of advice given at initial consultations. Using Royal College of Ophthalmologists and the NICE guidelines, an expert panel found that in a third of consultations the potential complications were not clearly explained.

Independent clinics, smaller chains and hospital-based providers scored the best, and high street providers came bottom. Good written information was provided at all of the clinics visited, but not tailored to the individual.

Multiple Optical Express was said to have fallen down on every visit when it came to explaining complications. Four of six visits to its practices were rated as poor, with the remaining two rated as satisfactory. Optimax had one good rating, four satisfactory visits and no poor results. Independent clinics, smaller chains and hospitals received four good ratings, one satisfactory and one poor.