A familiar part of the map
I trained in Salisbury. Ophthalmology specialty training in the Wessex Deanery took me through Salisbury District Hospital as well as Portsmouth, Southampton and Bournemouth, and that is not a line I put here for colour. It means I know the hospital, the local referring patterns, and what it is like to send a patient east when the problem is more specialised than a general eye clinic can settle.
I do not currently hold an NHS clinic in Salisbury. Private consultations and the operations on the published price list run from Medicana Winchester, about 30 minutes east on the A36, at Chilcomb Park on the eastern edge of Winchester. That is usually the shorter trip from Salisbury, Amesbury, Wilton, Stockbridge or Andover.
NHS appointments, and the regional work that depends on the joint lacrimal clinic, the periocular oncology multidisciplinary team and the orbital service, stay at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth.
When Portsmouth is still the right place
Queen Alexandra is around 50 minutes from Salisbury, typically the A36 then the M27 east, leaving at Cosham. From Fordingbridge it is a little less. The hospital sits on the northern edge of Portsmouth just off the A27, so there is no city centre driving.
Portsmouth runs the largest oculoplastic service in the region: three consultant oculoplastic surgeons, more than any other unit nearby, and over a thousand new referrals a year. We hold the only joint periocular oncology multidisciplinary team meeting in the region, and the only joint lacrimal clinic, with the highest volume endoscopic lacrimal service and weekly operating lists that I lead.
If you have a watering eye that has already had one operation, an eyelid cancer sitting awkwardly near the tear duct, or thyroid eye disease that needs more than one specialty thinking about it, that is the difference worth driving for.
What I treat
- Watery eye assessment and scarless endoscopic tear duct surgery, plus external DCR where it is the better option
- Thyroid eye disease, including orbital decompression
- Eyelid skin cancer excision and reconstruction
- Ptosis correction for a drooping upper eyelid
- Upper eyelid surgery and lower eyelid surgery
- Entropion and ectropion repair
Getting here from Salisbury
For Medicana Winchester, take the A36 east toward Winchester and leave for Chilcomb Lane. The clinic is at Chilcomb Park, SO21 1HU, on the eastern edge of the city. Allow about 30 minutes outside peak times. Free on-site parking is available.
For Queen Alexandra Hospital, continue toward the M27 and leave at junction 12 for Cosham. The hospital is at PO6 3LY, just off the A27. Allow around 50 minutes outside peak times. Parking is multi-storey on site with accessible bays at the main entrances.
What the NHS funds here
Salisbury sits in Wiltshire, so the commissioner is not Hampshire’s. What is funded for a drooping lid, excess upper-lid skin or lid malposition is decided by your integrated care board, not by which hospital you travel to. Rather than guess from a neighbouring policy, type your postcode into the map. Skin cancer surgery is funded everywhere; purely cosmetic eyelid surgery is funded almost nowhere.
Arranging an appointment
Private appointments are arranged through my secretary, Gina Stacey, or you can book a time online. A referral letter is helpful but not essential for self funding patients, and insured patients will need a referral plus a pre-authorisation code. I am recognised by Aviva, Allianz, Alliance Healthcare, Bupa and Vitality.
For NHS care, speak to your GP or optometrist about whether a referral to the eye department at Queen Alexandra Hospital is straightforward from your practice.