With 20 years performing vision correction surgery under his belt, Mr Julian Stevens has been a Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital since 1988.
The good news? Mr Stevens makes the list of the 10 best laser eye surgeons in the UK, based on thousands of patient reviews since 2002. Hundreds of former patients have left positive reviews, praising his surgical skill and caring manner.
Is there anything I should know? You’ve probably already guessed this, but Mr Stevens’s experience and prime London address also makes him one of the most expensive eye surgeons around. As with all Moorfields surgeons, his prices can be double that of competitors.
So is he the one? If you would like a second opinion, you can find the top-rated eye surgery clinic near you using our simple tool here, and book a free consultation with an eye expert to discuss your options.
1. About Mr Julian Stevens
Julian Stevens won a scholarship to study Medicine at Merton College, University of Oxford, where he was then awarded a Postmaster scholarship. He graduated top of his year in 1980 and was awarded the Oxford University Prize in Medicine for the top First Class Honours Degree.
He continued his clinical medical training at Clare College, University of Cambridge and at the Cambridge Medical School. Higher training was undertaken at the Oxford Eye Hospital and Moorfields Eye Hospital, London.
2. Training
After completing his general ophthalmic surgical training, Mr Stevens undertook two years of sub-specialist training, with Fellowships in Lens, Corneal and then Refractive Surgery at Moorfields Eye Hospital.
Mr Stevens was appointed as Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital in January 1996. His main interest is laser refractive surgery.
He has been involved in the development and application of wavefront refractive surgery and has personally performed over 10,000 wavefront procedures. Mr Stevens was the first Director of Refractive Surgery at Moorfields Eye Hospital.
3. Qualifications
Mr Stevens joins Professor David Gartry in being one of the UK’s most qualified eye surgeons. He is an examiner for the Royal College of Ophthalmologists and holds the Certification of the Royal College in Laser Refractive Surgery. He is an advisor to the British Society for Refractive Surgery and is on the Board of the International Society of Refractive Surgery.
He has won prizes from both the American and the European Societies of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons. He is the recipient of the 2007 American Academy of Ophthalmology (ISRS/ AAO) Lans award for innovation in refractive surgery.
Internationally recognised as an expert opinion leader, Mr Stevens has published peer reviewed papers on refractive surgery and is regularly invited to deliver keynote lectures at national and international ophthalmic meetings.
Mr Stevens trains Ophthalmic Surgeons in advanced refractive and cataract surgery. He founded the Moorfields basic and advanced IntraLASIK courses and the Moorfields wavefront training course for Ophthalmic Surgeons.
4. Patient Reviews
“My husband and I had lens replacement by Mr Stevens last year, and are both thrilled with our results. After years of wearing glasses, we feel liberated from them from the moment we wake up. I would personally recommend Mr Stevens, and would not hesitate to refer any of my family to see him when the necessity arises for them to seek eye treatment.” – June Clayton
“I had LASIK in 2005, performed by Mr Julian Stevens at Moorfields Eye Hospital. I have absolutely fantastic vision and it stills shocks me just how well I can see. The procedure was quick and painless, and Mr Stevens and his team made me feel at ease throughout the whole process.” – Rosie
“Mr Stevens was fairly brief in his pre-op time given for discussion but you could say, efficient and utterly knowledgeable. His junior doctors were not so well informed and one lady even fobbed me off with false information. His receptionists (especially Janet – a star) were much better informed. Overall I received all the answers I needed (I was annoyingly inquisitive) but had the sense that as a customer of an expensive and commercial procedure, time for chat was necessarily not huge. Delighted with the results.” – Andrew James
5. Prices
As you would expect at Moorfields Private, Mr Stevens does not come cheap.
Laser refractive surgery costs twice the quotes at other leading UK clinics, although the prices for lens replacement surgery are only around a third more, given the higher base cost of the lens itself.
- Consultation: £150 – £600
- Wavefront laser refractive surgery: £4,370 – £4,970
- Refractive lens surgery: £3,825 – £4,430 (per eye)
- Cataract surgery cost: £3,825 – £4,430 (per eye)
Unlike at many other clinics, initial consultations with Mr Stevens are not free – you’ll be paying between £150 and £600, depending on the surgery you’re interested in. If you would prefer to have the option to pay monthly for your surgery, it’s worth looking around, as Moorfields will need the full payment up front. At Optical Express or Ultralase, for instance, you could pay around £50 a month for two years.
6. The Verdict
So, is Mr Stevens the right eye surgeon for you? Of course, that all depends on where you live, and what you’re looking for. His prices are some of the highest in the industry, but he can also justify them, as one of the UK’s most qualified surgeons.
You’d be in trusted hands with Mr Stevens. That said, with eye surgery considered a safe elective surgery by the General Medical Council (GMC), no one should feel obliged to spend any more than they are comfortable with. You can always attend free consultations with a range of surgeons to see where you feel most comfortable.
☝ To find a top-rated laser eye surgery clinic near you, just click here to use our simple quote tool, and receive a tailored match and quote from a clinic you can trust.
Mr Julian Stevens Reviews
Anonymous patient
Mr Stevens is a highly reputable surgeon. Before going ahead with my laser eye surgery, I put my whole trust and faith in him especially after reading good reviews about him on various websites.
I never thought that a day would come when I will be one of the few people to submit a bad review about him. But I feel obliged to do so after such a horrific experience, which was in fact quite emotional and life changing.
Mr Stevens may have a high success rate, however, please do be aware that if anything does go wrong (or not as expected), YOU WILL BE LEFT COMPLETELY IN THE DARK with no explanation, acknowledgment or any sympathy.
He would not even acknowledge the fact that you did not get the expected result and would more likely make you feel as if you are a stupid psychotic patient, experiencing things that are unreal! and this is the last thing that any patient wants to go through especially when they are unwell.
Despite going through hell after my laser surgery and having a poor visual outcome, I still put my trust in him. I was very patient, calm and waited for him to give me an explanation. I would not have even submitted such a review if he at least ACKNOWLEDGED the poor outcome. But instead I felt that his attitude completely changed after the operation did not go as expected; he was more rushed, dismissive in my appointments and insisted that things were COMPLETELY fine.
I hope the rest of the refractive surgeons in the ophthalmic field do not lack accountability as Mr Stevens does, and I do hope that no one will have to go through my journey.
Leila
WARNING to anyone who has anxiety/depression at any point in their medical history and who is considering allowing Julian Stevens to carry out laser vision correction on their eyes. – If you get permanent dry eye syndrome, he will say this is in large part due to your depression. This was one of his responses to me and I’m guessing it is his standard go-to response to complaints when patients who have anxiety/depression anywhere in their history end up with dry eye disease. He says the depression exacerbates your perception of the dryness and that this is based on studies. He also says that the “tears of a depressed person” can also cause dry eye disease after surgery and that this also is based on studies (I have all the correspondence). Only problem is he does not mention this in the initial consultation (at least he did not in 2014). On the contrary, in my initial consultation he said the fact that I was on a particular anti-depressant medication was a good reason to proceed with surgery, even though I had dry eyes.
BEWARE also – Having dry eyes is a contraindication to elective laser eye surgery, according to many ophthalmologists, but Julian Stevens does not believe so, according to his response to me in 2017. I had Lasek vision correction surgery in 2014 and now have induced astigmatism, and constant dry eye, irritation and photophobia.
Michael Clayton
This is a follow up to my review in June 2012. It is true the YAG correction elliminated the slight opacity, but of course means the lens could never be explanted. It is true the right Lasek restored the missing distance vision which no glasses could correct so without that success there would be nothing favorable to report. However, the suicidal dry eyes kicked in after the Lasek with a TBUT time of 1 second on the right eye and 4 seconds on the left due to the cutting of the corneal nerves which never, ever really recover. With the help of dry eye goggles on a daily basis, eye drops every 20 mins best case, the TBUT times have improved in 6 years, but the dry eyes is a serious, life changing problem. All of this is also affected by the dysphotopia caused by the inherent disadvantages of the multifocal implant as the human vision system has evolved to process monofocal images over millions of years and neural adaptation is a myth. The way multifocal implants are pushed is beyond belief and as a patient I trusted the advice I was given. The night vision comas, haloes never really go away as the inherent contrast reduction never goes away as it cannot. If any RLE is implanted, by definition it should be a monofocal implant and nothing else. The industry should come clean on this issue. I live with multiple glasses for different tasks, a huge dry eyes bill and most importantly, depend on custom 17mm scleral lenses for any computer work. The patients posting positive reviews are simply deluding themselves.
Raja Adil
After careful research decided the time had come to investigate laser eye surgery. Met Julian Stevens for the initial consultation who was plain talking and inspired confidence. Had Intralasik surgery which went well. The results are truly life changing and words cant describe just how much better you feel. With the surgery comes an inheritant responsibility to ensure you put your eye drops in on time which will assists the healing. So far so good. Honestly, dont deliberate too much, go for it.
Raja
Went for a consultation with Julian Stevens in late 2012. Mr Stevens was plain talking and inspired confidence. Had Intralasik surgery in December 2012 and so far so good. Words cant decribe how life changing it is. Not needing to worry about glasses or contacts. What a relief. My vision is 20/20 and just from a morale point of view its great. I should say that just like any surgery there comes with it implicit responsibility namely that you need to make sure you put in the eye drops on time which is vital to assist the healing.I am happy with the results so far. My advice is not to deliberate too long, make up your mind and go for it!
K Katechia
Having been thinking about having laser treatment for years I was recommended Julian by a patient of mine.He has been superb , I had bilateral wavefront INTRALASIK and my sight has been restored.I am able to comfortably read even the smallest print and can honestly say the result is better than I expected.The procedure is very quick, easy and painless.my presc pre: +3.75/-3.50×7 6/5, +3.62/-3.25×172 6/5 post: +0.50/-0.50×15 6/4 +0.05/-0.37×171 6/4It has been 8 months now and my sight is just as good as the day after it was done.
Jeff Wooldridge
All I can do is smile, was recommended to see Mr Stevens by my optician. Had consultation and elected for LASEK as I lead quite an active life. Had surgery on 23rd June and apart from a little discomfort have been fine. Had my 3 month check up today and here’s the scores :Pre-OpRight 6/60 -2.12/-1.25 x 12Left 6/60 -2.62/1.00 x 177Post-Op (3 months)Right 6/4 0.00/-.05 x 20Left 6/4 0.00/-0.25 x 10Fantastic!!! Thank you so much again and a big thanks to Janet as well who organises things wonderfully.If you want perfect eyes see the man who is the best and at the same price as UltraLase
Sabin M Brooks
It is difficult to praise Julian Stevens and his team highly enough. I had always wanted laser surgery but was somewhat reticent and nervous about the procedure, particularly following detached retina surgery 6 years earlier. With my history and prescriptions of around -4 & -5 he advised me to undergo LASEK surgery. He and his team were patient, professional and kind…I truly felt like I had opted for the best surgeon at the best hospital in the world. The results bore this out – I am better than 20/20 in both eyes and delighted with the results. I had no hesitation recommending Julian to friends, family and work colleagues who are interested in a life without glasses 🙂
Mandi Ghattaora
I received the best care possible from Mr Stevens from my first consultation through to the follow up meetings after my surgery. I was quite nervous about going ahead as I had an uncomfortable eye allergy for about a year that no other Doctor was able to help me with – Mr Stevens helped to alleviate my condition immensely.Each consultation and meeting was thorough and professional and you are made to feel at ease. Straight after my first consultation I decided with confidence to have the surgery and it truly was the best decision I made. Mr Stevens has a wealth of knowledge and expertise and he immediately reassured me, leaving me with no doubts. The surgery itself was amazing, it lasted about 20 minutes, whilst you see what’s going on, you feel no pain, just a little discomfort and as soon as it was over, I was able to see so much more clearly. My prescription was -3, I now have excellent 20/20 vision and would absolutely, highly recommend Mr Stevens and his team.
Sophie
I could not have had a better surgeon taking care of my eyes than Julian Stevens – he made me feel comfortable, relaxed and above all excited about the prospect of gaining perfect eyesight under his care. He took the time to make sure I had an answer to every one of my queries and has been absolutely brilliant and hands on from day one. I would not have entrusted my eyesight with anyone else. I cannot thank him enough!
