01733553001

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/eye-surgeo ... on-fined-500000

Eye surgeons’ membership organisation fined £500,000. This follows a CMA investigation into anti-competitive information exchange and pricing agreements.

A membership organisation of private consultant ophthalmologists has today admitted breaching competition law and agreed to pay a fine of £500,000, to be reduced to £425,000 if it continues to co-operate. Ophthalmologists (eye surgeons) are specialists in medical and surgical eye procedures.
Consultant Eye Surgeons Partnership (CESP) Limited, the membership organisation, was formed to represent the interests of 37 limited liability partnerships (LLPs) and their 200 consultant members based across the UK. It provides its members with a number of services including access to CESP Limited negotiated contracts with private medical insurers. Each LLP has a representative on CESP Limited’s Board.
CESP Limited has admitted to infringing competition law and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has today issued a statement of objections to it. CESP Limited accepts liability for a number of infringements during the period September 2008 to present, which include:
Recommending that its members refuse to accept lower fees offered by an insurer, and that they charge insured patients higher self-pay fees.
Circulating amongst its members detailed price lists for ophthalmic procedures such as cataract surgery to be used with insurers. These collectively set prices did not pass on lower local costs (such as cheaper hospital fees) and made it harder for insurers and patients to obtain lower prices.
Facilitating the sharing of consultants’ future pricing and business intentions such as whether to sign up to a private hospital group’s package price, which enabled members to align their responses.
Today’s fine includes a discount of £75,000 to reflect the resource savings to the CMA generated by the membership organisation’s admissions and continual agreement to co-operate.
The CMA welcomes CESP Limited’s proposals to implement a comprehensive compliance programme, which is a positive step ensuring CESP Limited and its members avoid breaking competition law in the future. The CMA will now review the detail of the programme and, if it is satisfactory and implemented before the CMA issues its infringement decision, grant a further reduction in its fine. The CMA intends to issue an infringement decision next month.
Ann Pope, CMA Senior Director of Antitrust Enforcement, said:
This membership organisation of private eye surgeons has admitted to anti-competitive conduct including agreeing prices, recommending that members refuse to accept lower fees from an insurer and facilitating the sharing of confidential business intentions, including future pricing intentions, between its members. As a result of this activity, the incentives for its members to compete on price were restricted, making it harder for insurers and patients to obtain lower fees.
This is the first time formal competition law enforcement action has been taken against medical professionals in the UK. This case demonstrates the CMA’s commitment to taking action in specialised and regulated sectors including the professions and makes it clear that membership organisations and their members are not outside the scope of competition law or its penalties.
We welcome CESP Limited’s co-operation with the CMA’s investigation and its commitment to introducing a compliance programme and we hope that other professional membership organisations will take note of this case and take steps to ensure they operate in a way that does not infringe competition law.
Notes for editors
The issuing of a statement of objections is a necessary procedural step in a Competition Act investigation.
The CMA is the UK’s primary competition and consumer authority. It is an independent non-ministerial government department with responsibility for carrying out investigations into mergers, markets and the regulated industries and enforcing competition and consumer law. From 1 April 2014 it took over the functions of the Competition Commission and the competition and certain consumer functions of the Office of Fair Trading, as amended by the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013.

Russell Keith Ambrose has had more fingers in crusty pies than Dirk Diggler.

http://companycheck.co.uk/director/901652921

Most of the companies are in liquidation or are dissolved. Apart from a thousand different laser eye surgery companies, he's into articulated trucks, jewellery, car parks, hair bands, caravan parks and property businesses. With no cohesion in his choice of businesses it's perhaps indicative of someone who opens businesses in many sectors and proceeds only with the really profitable ones. That's fine for a Dragon's Den type investor looking to make money but is it really ethical to have such a person at the wheel of a specialised medical company where the focus should not be on the bottomline but in fact priority should be patient well-being?

Spent £3000 at Optimax London eye clinic and still have to wear glasses

After spending £3000 at Optimax London Eye Clinic, I still have to wear glasses as they did not correct my vision to 20:20. After speaking to their contact centre I have been told I would have to pay again to have them retreated to correct the residual prescription. TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY.

I was told at the time of surgery that because of my prescription they could not guarantee my prescription would be correct first time and that I may need a 2nd treatment to completlety correct this. I was told that any further treatments would be free. OBVIOUSLY THIS WAS A LIE

I was also told on my consultation that I would have a lifetime guarantee so if my eyes changed later in life and I need my eyes lasered again to achieve 20:20 this would be covered. I have now been told this is incorrect. AGAIN OPTIMAX LONDON THEY LIED

AVOID AVOID AVOID

All you people complaining about Optimax ruining your life, you clearly need to get one first before you can claim to have it have had it ruined by Optimax. I've just been made redundant because certain people have been making stuff up and faking and exaggerating their outcome to try and screw companies over for compensation. Us staff in the clinics have a life too you know. I have a mortgage and kids to look after. You think that if you are one of the 2% who end up with dry eye or halos or need to wear sunglasses because you develop photosensitivity that your 'life is ruined'? Take a leaf out of Kyle Maynards book and be grateful that you don't have a more challenging life. Then again it's all down to the character of the individual [> http://kyle-maynard.com/about-kyle/ <]

Meanwhile I look for a new job and it's not easy when you live in Hull and there's not many places that will take me on in this industry but I'll work in Tesco on the till rather than moaning about being made redundant.

insolent basturd.

While on the subject, my dry eye /blepharitis has my eyes on fire day and night, drops take the edge off - for all of 8 seconds. My exophoria is so bad it makes me feel disoriented as I cannot focus on moving crowds etc, properly.
The condition makes me feel dizzy and sick, and my head and left eye hurt like hell....
OPTIMAX REALLY DID CHANGE MY LIFE.

I would swim through vomit to close this Optimax lot down and listening to some of the nauseating comments here, I think we might have to.

Optimax Complaints?

http://www.optimax.co.uk/faq/article.aspx?id=15277 According to this question asked by a Mr Syril Sneer, you can send them a complaint in writing. If you do that then perhaps they will refrain from cold calling

Jock

Optimax laser people aged 18 as recorded here on their own website:
http://www.optimax.co.uk/faq/article.aspx?id=18255

Official RCO guidelines state that the minimum age is 21:
See 4.2
https://www.rcophth.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/ ... urgery-2011.pdf

It can be alleged that during this time of deepening financial unstability, the Optimax brand will do whatever they can, to whoever they can, to make a quick buck.

If a mystery shopper were to visit their premises with an unsuitable prescription, I wonder if they would be able to pass the test?

As a company who appear to heavily discount, with time-sensitive offerings, against this as an individual with friends & family in the younger adult  age range of 18-20, I shake my fist in frustration that this could be allowed to continue

Looks like Aaron Lennon's career has hit a low point. Forced to train with the Spurs youngster and then getting his eyes lasered by these Optimax losers.

http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/pre ... -518754371.html

At this rate he'll end up signing for the Glasgow Rangers.

Optimax would operate on Rafael Scheidt for free publicity if they could. desperadoes.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Scheidt

Watcha Me Go complain about spam text messages and emails I'm receding from Optimax in regards to laser eye treatment. ICO hiya

You are too busy trying to hep Rab Corbett win the Labour leadership contest than deal with this Optimax company. I find your behaviour disgusting. Once a politician always a politician.

http://youtu.be/_88HcI_0KJM

When looking at reviews for laser eye surgery, I noticed an excellent review page for Dr Ali Mearza. It was refreshing that all the comments were positive but even more so that he took the time to personally respond to each review. Perhaps that personalised surgeon experience is part of the reason why a company like Optimax are in financial difficulties; possibly because they employee mercenary surgeons who chase commissions from bulk operations and therefore the customer is second to why they work there.

Well done Ali Mearza.

Ps does anyone know who to contact at Optimax to get your name taken off their email spam list, I'm getting up to 10 emails a day from them and my request to unsubscribe from their Marketing has been ignored. Also getting debt management, PPI and life insurance offers from the same email address.

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/alimearza.com

Have you ever considered that the  effects you are suffering are not related to your surgery? Just a thought.

As you can see from this Daily Mail article, even drinking Red Bull can have an adverse effect on your eyesight.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-31836 ... ss-surgery.html

The the dailymail gets hoaxed yet again. Just my thought.

I couldn't agree more mate. It's a sad reflection on modern society that the number of people on the dole that are getting cheap LASIK deals then suing the providers with fictitious claims to coin in loads of dosh have rocketed in recent years to several dozen reported in the last two years alone.

Blame the weak previous Labour government for not standing up for the rights of businesses, these same people making claims are the same people who trip on pavements then sue local businesses in the vicinity which then go out of business as a result.

I run a successful publication that exposes scum and corruption, get it in local newsagents; The Digger.

Don't be fooled by crocodile tears.

HOW DARE YOU!!!!!

I'm not a benefits scrounger, I pay my own way in life. Here's my story about Laser EYE SURGERY / CATARACT TREATMENT with Optimax.

Had LASEK treatment in November 2012 which was painful enough. They discovered I had a cataract in my right eye a couple of months later. After going back and forth to Optimax I paid for cataract surgery in August 2014.

Unfortunately, the sight has never been good in my right eye since having LASEK and still not after the cataract operation. Have been to Southend, Maidstone, Finchley Road and back to all 3 again.

Was booked in to have further laser surgery done to correct my vision but had a call today with 2 weeks until my treatment to say that the consultant had cancelled his diary!! Thanks very much....

Only option is to now travel again to Finchley Road which is on the other side of London to have another appointment for a consultation with a different surgeon to see if he will treat me!! Can't quite believe that it's totally up to him! Then maybe I can have my treatment the following week. May be I can, may be I can't! Oh well, its not as though I have a job and workload to work around or that I have horses and have to make plans because I can't go to the stables for 3 weeks. Don't worry, perhaps it was my fault that the artifical lense put in during the cataract surgery wasn't the right prescription..!

Whilst they grabbed my £4000 for laser surgery and then cataract surgery everything was hunky dorey. Now that they have to do this for free I am running round the South of England trying to get someone to do this surgery.

In hindsight, I would not have had this treatment done at all because nearly 3 years and £4000 down the line it's still not right!!

Thanks for nothing Optimax...

Looks like Russell's tea is out. congrats to Owner Amy Yu who is now the proud owner of the premises formerly known as Optimax York. Not since Wallace sacked York has there been such a decisive strike in that region.

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/13576557.New_ ... ns_in_Fossgate/

Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell have both let themselves down in my opinion. They are as bad as these Optimax jokers sending their spammy laser eye surgery text messages because they are allegedly taking bungs off a corrupt individual to then ask questions in parliament which then generates public interest and referral money received from prospective medical negligence claims. This scandal is the new PPI and both McDonnell and Corbyn are lapping up their share of her pie.

For the reason they are having her pie and enjoying eating it, there is no difference between new labour, or new old labour or same again nothing's changed labour if Jerry Corbyn and his sidekick McDonnell are involved.

But that's beside the point....How can I stop Optimax sending me laser eye surgery text messages. I'm not interested and when I ask to stop they don't want to know.

Bitterly dissapointed.

Aftercare at Nottingham is abysmal. I now have an astigmatism that I didn't have before the treatment. My left eye is still blurred. The halos around light are still there 5 months after treatment.

To be honest, i wish I would have never had it done.