Controversies in cataract surgery within the NHS

Mr Bhargava attended Sheffield University Medical School, then ophthalmic training at Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham followed by oculoplastic fellowships in Leicester and Birmingham. He was appointed as Consultant Ophthalmologist at Countess of Chester NHS Trust in 2008 specialising in cataracts surgery and oculoplastics. He has always had a passion for efficiency within the NHS and has presented as a specialist registrar to the consultant body in Nottingham about ways to improve departmental efficiency. Mr Bharhava was running high volume cataract lists since 2014 and appointed Chair of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists Cataract Workforce Guidance Committee December 2019 to:

1. To describe the rate of cataract extractions performed within the over50-yearolds in the UK
2. To describe models of care to provide a safe, efficient and sustainable cataract service within the Hospital Eye Service 
3. To determine the workforce required to support each model of care 
4. To build prediction models to calculate workforce requirements for specified populations. 

The COVID-19 pandemic intervened, and Mr Bhargava was asked by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists to provide COVID-19 safe cataract pathways and working practices. He has presented at the Royal College of Ophthalmologists webinar on ‘Returning to Cataract’ surgery.

Professor David O'Brart has been a Consultant Ophthalmic at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London since 1996. He was the Director of Glaucoma and since 2006 the Director of Cataract, Refractive, Cornea and Anterior Segment Surgery. He was appointed Honorary Professor of Corneal Science at King’s College, University of London in 2015 and Honorary Professor, Cardiff University in 2019.

He is a past president and treasurer of the United Kingdom and Ireland Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons, a past council member and secretary of the British Society of Refractive Surgeons, past president and secretary of the Southern Ophthalmological Society and past board member of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons. He is an examiner and specialist advisor to the National Institute for Clinical Excellence and the Medical Health Research Authority for the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.

He has co-authored three books and numerous chapters to international ophthalmic textbooks. Has over one hundred and forty scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals. His current clinical and laboratory research is directed at optimising treatments for Keratoconus, Dry Eye, Cataract and Corneal surgery.

Alex is a Consultant at Moorfields Eye Hospital in the Cataract and Corneal Services. He was the lead researcher for the NIHR FACT trial of femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery vs phacoemulsification cataract surgery.

Mr Nanavaty is a cataract, cornea and refractive surgery Consultant at the Sussex Eye Hospital, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, and honorary senior clinical lecturer at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School. His areas of clinical interests are medical and surgical cornea, external eye disease, cataract and refractive surgery. He is the lead for cataract, corneal crosslinking, contact lens and research departments at the Sussex Eye Hospital.

Mr Nanavaty received several research grants from prestigious institutions and industry to conduct clinical studies in the National Health Services (NHS). His areas of research interest include astigmatism, wavefront aberrations, ectatic corneal disorders, endothelial disease, lamellar corneal transplant surgeries, quality of vision in pseudophakes, cataract surgical techniques, intraocular lenses and posterior capsule opacification. He regularly publishes and has several publications including randomized controlled trials, Cochrane review, case-control studies, cohort studies and retrospective studies in high-impact peer-review literature and over 300 national and international presentations.

He regularly contributes as an organiser, committee member, panelist, or faculty at several national and international ophthalmology meetings and organizations including the ESCRS, ASCRS, AAO, RCOphth, BSRS, etc. Mr Nanavaty is a member of Scientific Committee, the Certificate of Laser refractive Surgery Examination committee and Cataract surgery workforce committee at the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. He is on the UKISCRS council since 2014 and has been the programme lead for UKISCRS since 2018 and Hon. Secretary since January 2021. He is an external examiner at Ulster University.