Review of Moorfields Eye Surgery
Moorfields Eye Hospital enjoys a global reputation for providing world-class laser eye surgery.
Moorfields Private is the private arm of the renowned Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and offers ophthalmic care to patients seeking a vast range of treatments for both common and complex eye health conditions.
Today, Moorfields has a number of clinics around London – located in the City, the West End, Bedford and Croydon – and treats around 400,000 outpatients and 30,000 inpatients each year.
☀ Pros: World-class reputation, highly experienced eye surgeons, central London locations, advanced technology
☂ Cons: No fixed prices (fixed by the surgeons), no monthly payment options, no free consultation
☝ Compare clinics: See if there are any other top-rated clinics near you, and use our simple tool to receive a personalised quote.
Our no-nonsense review of Moorfields Private and Moorfields NHS Eye Hospital covers:
- Moorfields Private Eye Hospital
- Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Moorfields laser eye surgery cost
- What laser eye surgeries are offered?
- Moorfields’ best consultants
- Moorfields laser eye surgery reviews
- The Verdict
1. Moorfields Private Eye Hospital
For patients who fail to meet NHS requirements, or for those looking for treatments left off NHS checklists (such as refractive surgery for the average glasses-wearer), Moorfields Private is a viable option.
Private laser eye treatments at Moorfields include the most common surgeries such as PRK, LASEK and LASIK, as well as specialist procedures for more complex conditions. Private patients also benefit from Wavefront guided surgeries, which tend to have higher success rates due to greater laser accuracy.
In addition to providing high quality treatment and aftercare, many patients like to know that the profits from Moorfields Private are used to fund the Moorfields Eye Charity, Friends of Moorfields, which supports critical new research and quality eye care for children and adults.
2. Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
If you happen to suffer from a select range of debilitating eye conditions that cannot be treated by contact lenses or glasses (such as cataracts or glaucoma), you may be one of the few people who qualify for laser eye surgery on the NHS.
Moorfields’ NHS Eye Hospital is there for these patients, but for the vast majority of us, Moorfields Private has its door open.
3. Moorfields Laser Eye Surgery Cost
While NHS treatment is free, at Moorfields Private prices will apply to all consultations and surgeries.
Laser eye surgery costs at Moorfields start at £2,000 per eye for common laser eye surgery such as LASIK or LASEK. These prices rise to between £3,000 and £4,000 per eye for more complex procedures including cataract surgery.
An initial consultation at Moorfields is around £150, and the private prices will depend on the eye surgeon you choose. That’s because the laser eye consultants are employed by Moorfields, and set their own fees.
Consultation costs
- Consultation: £150 – £200
Patients considering laser eye surgery usually book one to two consultations prior to receiving treatment. You can book your first appointment on the Moorfields Private website.
Treatment costs (per eye)
- LASIK or LASEK eye surgery: £2,000 – £2,500
- Refractive lens exchange (RLE) or cataract surgery: £3,000 – £4,000
- ICL implantation surgery: £3,000 – £4,000
Other costs
In addition to these costs, you may also need to consider covering your potential stay in the hospital for private treatment. Moorfields Private hospital fees tend to range from £900 to £1800, depending on the procedure.
However, recovery times vary, and many eye treatments allow you to leave following the surgery. Naturally, there are no hospital fees for NHS patients.
Other options?
Moorfields Private Hospital offers some of the latest laser and implantable contact lens treatments performed by world-class consultant eye specialists, and these prices reflect the clinic’s high standards.
However, if these costs are outside your budget, or you would like to compare them with other leading laser eye surgery clinics in the UK, click here to fill in a few details, and talk directly to a trusted clinic to compare their quotes and services.
To see how other eye laser surgery clinics compare with Moorfields Private, just click here to use our simple quote tool, and receive a tailored quote from any trusted clinics near you.
Paying for treatment
Opting for laser eye surgery is a financial commitment for most people, and Moorfields offers three ways of paying for your treatment:
- Private Medical Insurance – If you are covered by private healthcare, Moorfields asks that you try to verify these details before your first appointment, and obtain your pre-authorisation number.
- Self pay – Many patients pay for their own treatment, with no private insurance needed.
- Third party sponsorship – If a third party (such as your employer) has agreed to settled your account, make sure you acquire a letter of guarantee along with a deposit.
Read more: Laser eye surgery costs explained
4. Laser Eye Surgery Treatments
Moorfields Private Eye Hospital provides over 100 vision correction treatments for adults and children of all ages.
Here are some of the most requested types of laser eye surgery treatments:
- LASIK: The most common treatment to correct eye conditions such as nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism.
- LASEK: A surface laser treatment that is suitable for patients with thinner corneas (eye surfaces).
- Cataract surgery: A refractive lens exchange (RLE), which is an option for those in the “reading glasses” age group.
- ICL surgery: Implants that work like permanent contact lenses are common for younger people, or patients with medical dry eye conditions.
Moorfields Private Hospital usually performs laser sight correction surgery to both eyes on the same day, but with cataract surgery and ICL implantation, most surgeons prefer to leave a week between operating on each eye for their patients’ comfort.
5. Moorfields’ Top Surgeons
Moorfields Private and Moorfields Eye Hospital claim their ophthalmic surgeons and consultants are some of the best in Britain, and six Moorfields Private surgeons were recently named in the Daily Mail’s top doctors list.
Within the industry, Moorfields is also the go-to for ophthalmic expertise: a recent Moorfields report shows that over half of all registered ophthalmic surgeons in the UK received their training there. Not surprisingly, many Moorfields consultants also completed their training onsite.
Plus, based on hundreds of unfiltered reviews from former patients, Moorfields hosts some of the top-rated laser eye surgeons in the UK.
Here are the five best consultants at Moorfields, as voted by you:
- Mr David Gartry: As one of the first surgeons worldwide to perform laser eye surgery, they don’t come more experienced than Mr Gartry.
- Mr Julian Stevens: Mr Stevens is an advisor to the British Society for Refractive Surgery, and is recognised globally as an expert opinion leader in laser eye surgery.
- Mr Bruce Allan: Mr Allan had been the Service Director for Refractive Surgery at Moorfields since 2012.
- Ms Valerie Saw: Ms Saw’s interests lie in inflammation and scarring of the eye, and she regularly treats patients for dry eyes and conjunctivitis.
- Mr Alexander C. W. Ionides: Since 1989, Mr Ionides has specialised in cataract and refractive lens surgery for both long and short sighted conditions.
Read more: Laser Eye Surgeon reviews
6. Independent reviews of Moorfields Private Eye Hospital
Moorfields consistently receive fantastic customer reviews, making them one of the highest rated laser eye providers in the UK. Click here to read their customer reviews below.
Moorfields Eye Hospital Private Clinic is also featured as one of Lasik Eye’s best laser eye surgery clinics in the UK, as well as shining in our list of the best laser eye surgery in London for partnering with some of the most renowned surgeons.
What makes Moorfields Eye Hospital so popular?
- History – Moorfields Eye Hospital first opened in London in 1805, and is now one of the oldest and best reviewed eye hospitals in the world.
- Ophthalmic Research – Moorfields has spent over 200 years researching and providing the latest laser eye surgery and implantable contact lens treatments, in partnership with the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology.
- Cutting-edge technology – Moorfields Private is a flagship location for laser and implant manufacturers. Its surgeons are therefore able to choose from the latest state-of-the-art laser eye equipment and non-invasive techniques like Intralase technology.
- Patient care – The Care Quality Commission (CQC) rates Moorfields Eye Hospital as ‘outstanding’ for care in their latest inspection report.
But is Moorfields Eye Hospital right for you?
Not everyone is best suited to Moorfields: as you would expect, world-class laser eye surgery often comes with an eye-watering price tag.
- Expensive treatments – Although patients tend to leave rave reviews, LASEK eye surgery costs on average £2,235 per eye at Moorfields Private, but between £595 and £1,595 per eye at other leading high street eye clinics such as Optical Express.
- No free consultations – Moorfields Private is one of the few laser eye clinics in the UK not to offer free initial consultations: you can expect to pay between £150 and £200, depending on the surgeon you see.
Next Steps: Find the Top-Reviewed Clinic Near You
Compare Moorfields Private with the highest independently reviewed eye laser clinics near you – see if you’re eligible for 20/20 vision or your money back, and receive your very own personalised quote.
Our mission at Lasik Eyes is to make it easy to choose the right clinic for your ophthalmic treatment, pop in for a free consultation, and talk through your options with an eye expert. Here’s how:
Next steps: Our simple tool helps our readers every day get one step closer to 20/20 vision:
- Find a top clinic near you: Answer three questions to be matched with the leading eye clinic in your area
- Check you’re eligible in minutes: Receive a quick call to check you can get surgery (we will never share your number with anyone else)
- Receive a tailored quote: Talk to an expert at a clinic you can trust for a free eye test (worth £800) and personalised quote (with no obligation)
☛ Click here to find the best clinic near you, and receive a tailored quote.
Moorfields Surgeons Reviews
Mr Alexander C W Ionides
BSc FRCOphth MD.
Mr Vincenzo Maurino
Mr Bruce Allan
MD FRCS FRCOphth
Mr Stephen Tuft
Professor David S Gartry
MD, FRCS, FRCOphth, DO, BSc(Hons)
Mr Julian Stevens
MRCP, FRCS, FRCOphth,DO
Moorfields Eye Hosptial Reviews
C Phillpotts
I went to Moorfields because I believed it was the best eye hospital in the UK and possibly the World. Huge expectations and I was not disappointed. What more can you say really? I could not fault it and it was well worth the cost.
Alex Smith
I wish I’d had the treatment years ago. It’s transformed my life, stripping out a whole layer of stress, anxiety and upset. I was terrified of the procedure and the recovery process for PRK, and although the actual operation felt a bit like being abducted by aliens, it was over in moments and in retrospect, neither the treatment or recovery felt like a big deal. I can’t recommend Valerie Saw highly enough. She took time to answer my numerous questions in-depth, face-to-face during consultations as well as over the phone and via email. She put me at ease and she has changed my life for the better, and for this I am eternally grateful.
Andrew Rowley
After being blind as a bat for over 30 years, I finally gave into having laser eye surgery. After researching the issue, I decided on Moorfields as the best option. This has been endorsed by my whole experience from start to finish. Miss Saw and her team were professional, dedicated and supportive through the whole process and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them as the ‘way to go’ if your thinking of this treatment. Thanks for giving me my sight back!
Gaynor Bresler
It is now 5 months since I had my Lasic surgery. I relied very heavily on these reviews when deciding whether to go ahead with the treatment so I hope this is helpful.
I had no problems whatsoever with my vision until I was about 45 when I gradually had to start using reading glasses. The strength of these got progressively stronger and I was obviously aware that there was nothing wrong with my eyes as such; it was just age-related, very common and to be expected. That didn’t stop me getting more and more grumpy with the inconvenience and juggling with different strength readers according to my activity. By the time I was 56 I was also beginning to have slight difficulty with long distance especially including the TV and night driving. My optician prescribed varifocals which I did try for several months but really didn’t get on with them and found I still needed the ordinary readers as well.
I went to see one of the High Street companies offering eye surgery and was advised that Laser wasn’t appropriate for me. They could however do the lens replacement cataract-type surgery and this would be a monovision procedure, giving me close-up vision in one eye and distance vision in the other. They gave me a contact lens trial for about 5 days which I hated. They said the brain would adjust over time. Anyway I decided not to go ahead. I was even more glad I hadn’t, when they started sending me BOGOF and other offers! But I was still frustrated.
Then someone told me that you could go to Moorfields privately. This was fantastic news as how could one do better than going to one of the best eye hospitals in the world using state of the art equipment. I looked at their very good website, rang up for an appointment, £200 which was fine as it reassured me that it wouldn’t just be a sales pitch. Mr Bruce Allan, after reviewing all the tests they did when I arrived, advised me that Lasic would be appropriate and that monovision with one eye adjusted for close work and the other eye adjusted for distance, would do me well and that the brain would adjust over time. I had already decided that I was fed up enough to take the very small risk of complications and that I was going to go ahead with whatever he recommended.
The procedure was uneventful and painless. Very blurry for the first 24 hours but nevertheless I could tell that I was going to be able to see more detail, close to. There was no “wow moment” the next day and overall I did find the first 2 weeks quite challenging in terms of blurred, glassy and double vision, computer work and problems with night driving. Having said that, I did not have to wear any glasses! I stuck religiously to the drops routine and was comforted by the fact that each time I carried out a particular activity, there was a marked improvement.
I went back for a checkup after about 6 weeks at my own request (no extra charge) as my eyes were stinging a lot and I was worried I was getting an infection but it turned out to just be dry eyes and I was advised to use the artificial tears more. The reassurance was good to have and I haven’t had many problems with dry eyes since and am not needing the artificial tears. The vision itself continues to improve and at my routine checkup last month I was told it would continue to do so for 2 years. We are fans of Ipswich Town FC and there was a lot of blurred outline the first few games after the procedure, but I have noticed an improvement at each game and it is now progressing nicely towards HD.
I have thrown out 22 pairs of old glasses and am still finding the odd pair around the house. I am over the moon at the result and feel that the financial cost of the procedures is more than outweighed by the cost of glasses over the next 20 years, not to mention the convenience and time saved at not having to scratch around for the right pair. Thankyou Mr Allan and I recommend him, this procedure and Moorfields wholeheartedly.
Mr Alexander Ionides
I had lens replacement surgery on my left eye recently and I am delighted with the result. Being able to see things clearly close up for the first time ever is just amazing. When I open my eyes every day it puts a smile on my face to be able to see the world without reaching for glasses.
Mr Ionides and his team were fantastic before, during and after the surgery. Surgery itself was pain free and there was minimal discomfort afterwards.
At all times I felt I was in safe hands with Mr Ionides and the Moorfields team.
I would highly recommend Mr Ionides. If you’re looking for a top class eye surgeon, no need to look any further.
Michael Gray
As a fairly young sufferer from cataracts, I was recommended to see Mr Maurino to discuss multi-focal lens implants. No doubt, this was one of the best decisions I have made. As a mid forties male having had glasses my entire life, I am delighted that after the procedure my near and distance vision is about as good as it gets. No more glasses required! I would thoroughly recommend Mr Maurino and his team, everything is fully explained, the procedure painless and the end result FANTASTIC!
Tracey Osborn
I had my surgery in March, and have just had my three month follow up consultation. My consultant was Mr Bruce Allen … I am very pleased with the result and am now totally glasses free, having previously worn two pairs, for reading and distance. The surgery was pain free and first class. Mr Allen and his team were all very professional and helpful. I would recommend Laser Surgery to anyone .. Many thanks .. Tracey Osborn
Louise Horgan
I highly recommend Mr Ionides and his team at Moorfields for laser eye surgery.
My surgery for Wavefront LASEK took place about 5 months ago and I am STILL over the moon with my improved vision. I no longer need any glasses and after contemplating and researching it for years, I wish that I’d had the surgery done sooner!
The whole process was fantastic; Mr Ionides was extremely professional, honest and understanding. He took time to answer all my questions and the options available.
During and after the surgery, the level of discomfort was minimal and not painful (but I did follow the drops schedule and had a few days of rest. Dark sunglasses are also very useful).
I received an excellent standard of care from the whole team and I am hugely appreciative of their wonderful work.
Caroline King
If you are having eye surgery, go for the very best. Moorfields is a world renowned flagship eye hospital, with cutting edge laser technology. Mr Bruce Allen is a truly exceptional surgeon and it is no wonder he consistently gets fantastic reviews. I couldn’t have been in a better place, and in the safest possible hands. Excellent results. It has been life changing – one very happy patient.
Gerardo
Excellent treatment – care- advice.
Will definitely recommend to anyone
