A simple, secure way to refer a patient.
I welcome private referrals from GPs, optometrists, and consultant colleagues. For a quick question about a patient, WhatsApp is often the fastest way to reach us. For a formal referral, the secure online form is the quickest route and needs no account.
Refer a patient
Referrals are encrypted and come straight to me, and I am notified as soon as one arrives. Use the secure form when you are making a formal referral or sending the clinical details properly. You will receive a clinic letter once I have seen your patient.
Start a referralThe referral form is hosted by ReferPatient.to, a free service from Carebit, and opens in a new tab.
- Best for a formal referral
- Takes under two minutes
- No account required
- Secure and encrypted
Message us on WhatsApp
If you just want to ask a practical question about a patient, WhatsApp is often the fastest way to reach us. Please avoid sending sensitive clinical details or a full referral there. Use the secure referral form above when you are making a formal referral.
Message us on WhatsApp
Other ways to refer
By WhatsApp
Use WhatsApp for a quick practical question about a patient. Please avoid sending sensitive clinical details there.
By email
A letter or a short note to info@mrchrisschulz.com is equally welcome.
By phone
My secretary, Gina, is on 02392 009187, Monday to Friday.
A subspecialty service, and a letter that comes back.
A dedicated oculoplastic practice
Fellowship-trained in oculoplastic, lacrimal and orbital surgery, and a substantive consultant at Queen Alexandra Hospital since 2023. Eyelids, tear ducts and orbits are all I do.
The same surgeon throughout
You are referring to one named surgeon. I carry out the consultation, the surgery and the follow-up myself, so there is no hand-over between clinics and one person stays accountable for the result.
Complex lacrimal and orbital work
I co-lead the only joint lacrimal clinic in the region and the highest volume endoscopic lacrimal service, and helped establish a regional orbital decompression service for thyroid eye disease.
Oncology expertise within reach
Where a periocular skin cancer calls for it, I have access to Mohs surgery and to the regional periocular oncology MDT, so complex reconstruction can be planned alongside dermatology and maxillofacial colleagues rather than referred on again.
Correspondence you can use
A clinic letter goes to you and to your patient within a few days of the appointment, with the findings, the plan and a clear answer to the question you asked.
Straightforward private pathways
I am recognised by Aviva, Allianz, Alliance Healthcare, Bupa and Vitality. Self-pay patients are given a written quote, and a formal referral letter is helpful but not essential.
The conditions that come my way.
The four areas below cover most of what I am asked to see. Each links to the relevant procedures and conditions in more detail.
Eyelid position, lumps, skin cancer, trauma, blepharospasm, facial palsy.
Procedures & conditionsUpper and lower blepharoplasty, brow lift, anti-wrinkle injections.
Procedures & conditionsWatery eye, endoscopic and external DCR, punctoplasty, Lester Jones tubes.
Procedures & conditionsThyroid eye disease and decompression, orbital tumours, eye removal and socket care.
Procedures & conditionsIf you are not sure whether something sits with me, please just ask. A quick WhatsApp message or short email is often faster than a formal referral, and I would rather point your patient to the right person than have them wait in the wrong clinic.
Which eyelid operations the ICB will pay for
There is no national policy for eyelid surgery. The threshold and the route both vary by integrated care board, and the vocabulary matters: criteria based access needs no application, prior approval does, and an individual funding request is for patients who do not meet the criteria rather than those who do. In Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, ptosis and dermatochalasis surgery is not normally funded and no threshold is published, so an IFR is the only NHS route, except in North East Hampshire, which kept the Frimley criteria and can fund the same operation. Chalazia (Policy 54) and ectropion (Policy 53) do have criteria some patients can meet.
Look up an ICB by postcodeI compiled the policy position for all 36 integrated care boards, with the source document and the date each entry was verified. Where nothing has been published it says so rather than inferring from neighbouring boards.
Ready to refer?
WhatsApp is often quickest for a simple question; the secure form is best for a formal referral and needs no account.