
I’ve always been a geek. I grew up watching Star Trek, playing video games, learning how to code computer programs, and building my own telescopes. I went to medical school at the University of St. Andrews, then Guys and St. Thomas’ Hospitals. My father wanted me to become a cardiologist, but I had such a good time during my ophthalmology elective that I knew it was for me – I’d do ophthalmology or I would leave medicine. I did my PhD in Liverpool and my training at Moorfields Eye Hospital. From there, it’s been natural for me to combine my two passions – technology and ophthalmology. I’ve always gone my own way and I’ve never given in to criticism. I am happy to listen – but I find that everybody just wants to look backward and find reasons why things can’t be done, rather than look forward and find ways to make them happen. There’s no such thing as “impossible!” I think underlying it all is the fact that I believe I can do this, and this confidence allows me to take calculated risks beyond other people’s comfort zones.
Setting up the London Eye Hospital
During my time at Moorfields, I conceived the idea of forming my own hospital. I feel like too many people just get through the day, do their job and go home – they’re not giving the best they can, and putting their heart into their work. I can’t believe I spent 25 years with the UK National Health Service (NHS), I really felt it drained me of my energy and enthusiasm; I left for good in 2011. It is a great organization with so many brilliant people but they aren’t always appreciated and sometimes treated badly by the people who run it. I wanted to show people how it could be done, when all you had to do was what’s best for the patient based on your experience – without having to consider cost, internal politics, mainstream practice. That’s what I believe I’ve created with the London Eye Hospital (LEH) – the best technology, the best doctors, and the best service possible.This may sound odd, but when I first set up LEH, I didn’t have a business plan, or even a strategy for breaking even. My main goal was to have the best technology and facilities I needed, and I did whatever it took to create my ideal practice. I simply wanted to create the best eye hospital in the world. For years, it cost me huge amounts of money, but I kept funding it because I believed in what I was doing. Now the tide has turned – I own a very profitable organization that is still based on my original principles. Our patients appreciate that we don’t compromise on anything; we just offer the best treatment available anywhere in the world for their individual case using state-of-the-art equipment and facilities and the most experienced surgeons.