Optical Express has grown to become one of Europe’s leading providers of laser eye surgery. It operates over 200 clinics, of which 100 are specifically designated laser consultation clinics and 54 are laser treatment clinics.
With locations throughout the UK, Holland, Germany, Ireland, France and Croatia, Optical Express has carried out over one million laser eye surgery procedures worldwide. What’s more, over 99% of patients would recommend Optical Express to their friends and family.
Pros: Value for money, caring surgeons, 128 UK clinics, latest technology, dedicated aftercare
Cons: No fixed prices (talk to them for a quote)
☝ Compare clinics: See if there are any other top-rated clinics near you, and use our simple tool to receive a personalised quote.
- Optical Express Laser Eye Surgery Review
- Prices
- Treatments
- The Verdict
- Surgeon Reviews
- 1,806 Patient Reviews
1. Optical Express Laser Eye Surgery Review
I’m very happy with my laser treatment. There’s nothing to worry about – there’s no pain, and I would recommend it to anybody. The aftercare at Optical Express is also very good. I just wish i had done it years ago. – Philip Lavelle
Optical Express uses world leading technology, and their laser platform – the VISX S4IR – delivers safe, accurate and precise results. Fun fact: Optical Express is the only vision correction provider to invest in the iFS150 intraLASE in each of its clinics – the same technology that led to NASA backing laser eye surgery for astronauts in 2007.
Over 99% of Optical Express patients achieved 20/20 vision or better following treatment, according to a study carried out in June 2017.
With over 25 years’ experience in eye care, Optical Express boasts excellent surgical outcomes, and has invested £400 million in technology to offer advanced methods for vision correction.
Optical Express has 128 clinics in the UK alone – far more than any other eye surgery provider. Its locations include London, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Dublin, with many more situated in all corners of the country.
Here is how nearly 2,000 real customers rate Optical Express for its clinic, cost, treatments and surgeons:
| Optical Express Rating Overall | Clinic Rating | Cost Rating | Surgeon Rating | Treatments Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (4.6 out of 5) | (4.5 out of 5) | (4.8 out of 5) | (4.5 out of 5) | (4.7 out of 5) |
CQC Rating: Good
- Treating people with respect and involving them in their care
- Providing care, treatment and support that meets people’s needs
- Caring for people’s safely and protecting them from harm
- Staffing
- Quality and suitability of management
2. Optical Express Laser Eye Surgery Cost
True, it was an expensive operation, but I spent £500 a year on contact lenses and optician appointments – I see it as an investment! – Dave Reyner
(4.8 out of 5)
Laser eye surgery at Optical Express costs from just £595, or from £1,995 for lens replacement surgery. Of course, these prices depend on the treatment you choose, as well as your prescription, so you’ll want to pop in for a free consultation to get a tailored quote.
Optical Express is one of the cheapest laser eye surgery clinics in the UK. Its prices are well below average, compared to over 70 leading eye clinics and hospitals nationwide.
There are also a range of pay monthly finance options, so you can benefit from eye surgery for less than £50 a month – and it’s 0% finance for 10 month contracts.
Are there any hidden costs? No, the consultation is free, and you even get free eye tests worth £800. The only downside is not having fixed prices like at Optegra and Optimax, but at least the costs are lower at the end of the day.
Here are the prices of some of Optical Express’ popular lens and laser surgery options:
| Eye Surgery Procedure | Price (per eye) | Finance Options (per month) |
|---|---|---|
| LASEK | From £595 | £49.50 (10 months on 0% APR, £100 deposit) |
| LASIK | From £1,195 | £42.02 (for 18 months on 11.5% APR, £500 deposit) |
| LASEK (with iDesign) | From £1,495 | £41.69 (for 24 months on 11.5% APR, £500 deposit) |
| LASIK (with iDesign) | From £1,495 | £46.35 (for 24 months on 11.5% APR, £500 deposit) |
| Monofocal lens surgery | From £1,995 | £48.89 (for 36 months on 11.5% APR, £500 deposit) |
| Multifocal lens surgery | From £3,195 | £47.39 (for 72 months on 11.5% APR, £500 deposit) |
| Phakic IOL | From £3,395 | £47.39 (for 72 months on 11.5% APR, £500 deposit) |
| YAG | From £595 | N/A |
☛ Want a tailored quote? The only way to compare exact quotes is to see an eye expert for a check-up. These can cost up to £250, but with our simple tool, you can find out how much laser or lens surgery will cost you at Optical Express for free.
3. Laser Eye Surgery Treatments
Fantastic! I am so pleased I has the treatment – playing sports is so much easier! All the staff were very helpful, reassuring, and happy answering my questions. I’ll definitely be recommending Optical Express to everyone, their service is excellent! – Stephanie Yeadon
(4.7 out of 5)
Laser Eye Surgery
Laser eye surgery is a simple procedure that can correct your vision in a matter of minutes. Optical Express offers the most popular types: LASIK and LASEK (if you are not suitable for the surgical LASIK).
In both treatments, a cool beam advanced laser reshapes the cornea (the surface of your eye). Optical Express uses a technology called iDesign, which is based on Wavefront technology and takes thousands of eye measurements to produce the best results.
Lens Replacement
Optical Express has 20 years’ experience in lens replacement surgery. This surgery is a popular treatment for people with long distance vision, short distance vision, and even cataracts.
An eye consultant can help you decide which surgery best suits your needs:
- Refractive lens exchange (RLE) – This surgery replaces the natural lens with a synthetic intraocular lens (IOL) implant.
- Phakic IOL – This type of IOL is an alternative to laser eye surgery for patients with strong prescriptions.
- YAG laser treatment – YAG laser capsulotomy is a non-invasive procedure used to treat refractive former lens exchange patients whose vision starts to fade over the years.
Cataract Surgery
Optical Express performs the highest number of cataract surgeries – after the NHS, according to its website.
Cataracts are small, blurry patches on your eyes, giving you cloudy vision. Cataract surgery involves removing your damaged lens, and replacing it with a premium synthetic one for sharper near and distance vision.
Aftercare
Optical Express custom-fits its aftercare plan to every patient. This plan includes any medication that will aid the healing process, optometrist-led follow-up appointments, and an out-of-hours medical helpline.
Patients receive 12 months’ continued care as standard, and Optical Express recommends annual examinations to maintain your eye health.
Safety Record
All surgical procedures carry a degree of risk. However, laser eye surgery has an impressive success rate, and is the most popular elective surgery in the world.
99.2% of patients achieved at least 20|20 vision following surgery at Optical Express, based on a study of 190,231 Optical Express patients with the most common prescriptions. That’s why this eye clinic promises 20|20 vision or your money back.
Just be aware that the risks increase the more complicated the surgery. Optical Express will provide a screening service to check whether you are suitable for surgical treatment.
4. The Verdict
I can highly recommend Optical Express. They are very professional, and the procedure was pain free. The best thing now is I can see very well without glasses – and it was only done 3 weeks ago. – Elaine Gibson
(4.6 out of 5)
Optical Express is the best voted place for laser and lens replacement surgery, based on nearly 9,000 independent reviews on Lasik Eyes since 2002. With hard-to-beat prices, leading technology, and fully qualified surgeons, this clinic tops the list of best laser eye surgery clinics in the UK, as well as taking the crown for:
- Best eye surgery in London
- Best eye surgery in Scotland
- Best eye surgery in Manchester
- Best eye surgery in Bristol
But is it right for you? The only way to find out is to see if you’re eligible for 20/20 vision or your money back, and to get a tailored quote. That’s why we make it easy to pop in for a free consultation, have free eye tests (worth £800), and talk through your options with an eye expert.
Next steps: Our simple tool helps thousands of readers a day get one step closer to 20/20 sight:
- Find the top clinic in seconds: 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 don’t share your number with anyone else)
- Book a free consultation: 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.
5. Optical Express Surgeons
Mr Mehul Damani
MBBS, MS, DOMS, DNB, FRCS
Mr Luca Antico
MD
Mr Manek Patel
MD, RCOph
Mr Dimitri Kazakos
MD, MRCOphth
Dr Mohammed Shabbar Kazmi
MBBS, FRCS(Opth)
Mr Jonathan Carr
MD MA(Cantab) FRCOphth
Doctor Jan Venter
MD
Mr Khalid Khan
MBBS FRCS FRCOphth
Mr Jacobus Pauw
MBChB MMedOphth FCSOphth
Mr Sanjay Mantry
FRCOphth FRCS FRCS
Mr Andre Oberholster
MBChb MMedOphth
Mr Stefan Klopper
MBChB FCS
Mr Waseem Aziz
MB ChB FRCS
Mr Alex George
FRCOphth, FRCS MS, DOMS, DNB
6. Optical Express Reviews
Wilson
Day 6 now and vision is great - better than 20/20 after only 12 hours. The whole procedure was handled very well by the professional, courteous and reassuring staff.
Andrew Jnr
The following is an extract from my e-journal [thank god for mobile phones and the internet!!] Sunday 18th November 2007: Usually when you wake up in the morning you do the usual getting up, going to the bathroom, taking a shower routine but today I realised that come tommorrow my routine will never be the same! Went downstairs and for the first time in a long while I began to "see" things around me. As a society we spend so much time looking [ie looking out the window, looking over our work, looking at each other etc] that i noticed things that I'd never noticed before.....birds in the trees, cats crossing the street, and the colours of the sunrise. Maybe it was just nerves from realising that tommorrow is going to be a "life changing experience"...........at least thats what the brouchre reads!! As I'm writing this its actually began to snow!! Hope thats a good sign for tommorrow!! Monday 19th November 2007: Got up this morning all excited. Snows pretty much melted!! Catching a 7:30am bus to Milton Keynes to have CUSTOMVUE WAVEFRONT with INTRALASE so I've got to run jump in the shower, change and start my journey towards perfect vision!! Just arrived at Milton Keynes....wasn't nerves until my sister started filling my head with her worries!! I've sent her shopping to keep her out of the way!! Pretty much have ten minutes before Im up....now i'm nervous!! Monday 19th November 2007 Afternoon: Firstly I'd like to say that I have a wonderful sister who was kind enough to accompany me to my surgery day and who has agreed to jot down my after thought!!! The surgery was AMAZING!!! If you know anyone thinking of going ahead with it when they say mild discomfort, they mean mild discomfort. Surgery was over in about ten minutes including setting up and everything!!! I came out and could see the tv screen in the reception area and was reading words from the screen!!! Not bad for someone who was a R&L -3.75/-2.00X90!! Going home to sleep now and then do my course of drops!! Monday 26th November 2007: This has been an amazing week! Bought my first pair of non prescription sunglasses!! I'm reading signs at great distances that I never thought I could read!! My colour contrast is wonderful and in all honesty it feels like I'm viewing the world in HD!!! I'd like to thank the wonderful staff members of the Aylesbury Branch [actually need to see the lovely dentist and hygienist out there!!] who referred to over to the wonderful staff members at Milton Keynes for my consultation. My laser counsellors [it took many people to help me on my laser journey!!] Jade, Dot, Stacey (Milton Keynes), Sian, Dianne, and Todd (Aylesbury) thank you all. My Specialist Laser Optometrists Rina Bagdhi, Deepa Katechia, Sreeti Patel and Dasi Raju thank you for for you assessments and your post operative advice. The surgery team at Milton Keynes were all helpful, supportive, and quickly put me at ease and were very wonderful on my 24hour post op too!! Thank you very much ladies!! Last but by no means least I'd like to thank Rodney Blumenfeld for a great surgery experience and would have no problems recommending him, the Milton Keynes Surgery, Milton Keynes and Aylesbury consultation teams or Optical Express!!!
Elaine Eadie
optical express in dundee with graeme/raymond excellent customer service if it wasnt for graeme and raymond i would not have found enough confidence to have the lasik surgery. can now see perfectly without glasses/contact lenses for the first time in 30 years a dream that I never thought could be fulfilled
John
Had Lasik Surgery on the 23/11/07 at the Reading Optical Express branch. Been 2 days since and my vision is great. I now have 20/20 vison in my right eye and 20/16 in my left and told they will still improve. My prescription before surgery was -4 in right eye and -3.75 in left eye. The surgery went really well and i was advised on what was happening, it was only slightly uncomfortable and went by in a flash. I do have slight inflammation in my left eye which i have been told is common in my left eye but have no pain at all. Also do have slight halo looking at light at night but it is bareable and told it will improve over time but other then that i have no symptoms. The only hard thing i am finding difficult is all the eye drops that i need to take and making sure i take them!! If you get Dr Joanne Mcgraw then you are in the best hands as she was fantastic.
Andy
Leeds Clinic, fantastic people and results to fantastic to have believed possible
Chris Walthew
I am absolutely delighted with the results from my eye surgery operation and couldn't recommend optical express highly enough. My eye sight is perfect and have given me a lot more flexibility than I expected.
Asan
Today I had my one week consultation and things have improved considerably ! Andrew the optometrist said it's healing well and he's happy with things. As always the ladies on the first floor (laser surgery floor !) were fantastic and very friendly. They do a nice cuppa as well ! :-) If you want to know anything about laser surgery at Newcastle upon Tyne just go straight to the first floor at Optical Express. If you are lucky you might be able to get a free consultation on the same day or book one within days. If you want 50 pounds off your treatment make sure you contact me and I'll give you a voucher !!! :-) Few people have emailed me and asked me questions on how I went about selecting which provider and whether I knew much about how to judge the laser technology standards. To be honest, judging the laser technology is a tricky one as unless you are an expert in this field or know a thing or two about science it's not that easy. I have a science degree and I still found it difficult to understand some of the claims made by all the providers about their laser technology. WHAT ANNOYS ME IS THAT MOST UK LASER EYE PROVIDERS CLAIM TO HAVE THE BEST TECHNOLOGY AND THE MOST SOPHISTICATED EYE LASER MACHINES. THEY ALL CLAIM TO HAVE THE BEST SO ONLY GOD KNOWS WHO IS TELLING THE TRUTH !!! MY POINT IS THIS CAN NOT BE TOTALLY ACCURATE AND SOME PROVIDERS MAY BE MAKING FALSE CLAIMS ! For the average person this can be quite confusing and I fully understand the concerns of those of you who emailed me and asked these questions. I am not paid by Optical Express (OE) to write all this but what I can say is this. The OE laser has got pretty good reviews and there is lots of info out there if you bother to do some web searching ! It's been in use for a while and that was important to me. I also appreciated the fact that OE was part of the UK laser association so I knew they had agreed on some good standard practices. Just because a laser is recommended by a celebrity it doesn't mean it's any better than the others. What people need to understand is that our eyes are just as important as the celebrities eyes. So my opinion and testimonial is just as important as a celebritiy opinion. One thing I like about OE is the fact that I am treated as a person and with respect and dignity. I like the fact that all patients eyes are treated with the same care and importance whether you are a celebrity or not as well as not on how much you have spent on your laser treatment. End of the day most of us have gone for treatments on what we can afford and made personal sacrifices and it's important that we are all treated equally with respect and good customer service. So I believe it is important to go for a provider (such as OE), who will give you good aftercare and that should play an important part when it comes to deciding who you go with ! Hope this has been useful to some of you out there ! I will keep you all updated on how things progress !! :)
Emma Hynan
Amazing. I woke up this morning and can see perfectly. Would recommend this surgery to anyone. It's fantastic. many thanks Optical Express. Emma
Francesca
Hi there, I have booked my surgery at Optical Express in London on the 10th November, but I am still a bit worried about the whole procedure. Does anybody had the operation with Dr. Osama Giledi? Many thanks
Mr Asan G
I had my treatment at the Newcastle branch yesterday ! I can already see well without glasses or anything even though it's still a bit sore ! I am hoping everything heals perfectly and I'll have good vision. I am absolutely thrilled with my results and the way everything was handled. I must say a VERY BIG THANK YOU TO THE STAFF AT NEWCASTLE !!! :) From the start to the finish I was looked after well and the customer service is brilliant. The resident surgeon at Newcastle is Dr/Mr Lorrimer Esselaar. He is a quiet gentle man who puts you at ease from the start and explains everything as it happens. At the consultation he explains everything and gives you an opportunity to ask anything you want to know about the surgery. I didn't have many questions as I had read and have been looking into having laser surgery for a very long time !. It's a real shame I took this long to make up my mind !!! Having said that I have been collecting money for a while for this !! :-) The Newcastle resident laser optometrists (Andrew, Dean and Rachel) are very friendly as well and knows about the surgery very well. You are able to speak to some of the staff who have had it done themselves and they will share their experiences. The laser counselor (Janice Stobbart) I had was very good and was a very nice lady. I will keep you posted on how my eyes progress in the coming months !! The best thing is if you are thinking about having surgery is to go for a free consultation and ask any questions you may have.
