History

Focus was initially established in November 2002 by Mr David Allamby FRCS, FRCOphth. At that time it operated under the name 'Horizon Eye Centres' with consulting rooms in both Manchester and Bolton. Right from the very start Mr Allamby was pioneering in the correction of presbyopia (the needs for reading glasses after the age of 45) which affects more than twenty million Britons. He also performed laser eye surgery for both short and long sight.

Mr Allamby performed the UK's first treatment for presbyopia using blended vision in January 2003. Rita Thomas, a GP practice nurse living in Manchester was the first patient in the UK to receive this innovative procedure and it was covered by national media including Sky News, The Times and The Daily Mail. Rita can still read without any glasses some eight years later.

With Mr Allamby's work gaining momentum, demand for laser eye surgery grew and he set up consulting and treatment rooms in London. By 2005 Horizon Eye Centres had set up their clinic in Harley Street under their new name, 'Focus'.

The reputation of the clinic grew quickly and the attention to detail, exemplary safety record and pioneering research attracted celebrities. Rock legend Rick Wakeman, UB40's Ali Campbell and presenter Paul Ross were all treated by Mr Allamby at the Harley Street clinic.

Expansion of FOCUS Clinics

Expansion meant that in October 2007 Focus moved to stunning new premises at 22 Wimpole Street with 3000 square feet of beautifully designed interior space and the latest in laser eye technology. A major investment in new technology ensued including the purchase of a new WaveLight 400Hz Eye-Q excimer laser which is the world's best vision correction system. In January 2008 this was followed by the acquisition of the UK's first Ziemer LDV femtosecond laser, a breakthrough in safety and accuracy for blade free LASIK. The new procedure is called Z-LASIK.

It was at this point that Mr Ali Mearza FRCOphth, Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust joined Focus. He was looking for a clinic that could offer state of the art technology and a team that he could rely on and Focus was No. 1 in his estimation.

First Z-LASIK treatment

Mother of three, Bella Roberts had the first Z-LASIK treatment in January 2008. This was a major milestone in laser eye surgery at Focus - technology and experience now meant that results were better than ever before. The day after, Bella could see two lines better than 20/20. Focus surgeons David Allamby & Ali Mearza went on to become the most experienced Z-LASIK surgeons in the country and present their results in International research forums.

In 2010 Focus was the first clinic in the UK to achieve 100% of short-sighted patients seeing 20/20 or better after Z-LASIK (Up to -9.00 dioptres plus astigmatism). Almost half of these patients achieved 'supervision' eyesight of 20/12 which is two lines better than 20/20.

In January 2011, the Focus story continues with Ali Mearza and David Allamby becoming the first surgeons in the country to use the fastest and most precise femtosecond laser in the world - the Ziemer FEMTO LDV™ Crystal Plus ushering in a new era of LASIK technology.

Technology and Innovation >