Where did we come from?
Eye Specialists Ltd was formed in 2003 by Drs Geoff Wallace and Brian Kent-Smith. Moving their individual private practices into a combined was the best solution.
"Our vision was to create a purpose-built facility dedicated to eye care."
Both specialists commenced public practice at Northland Base Hospital in 1997, with Dr Wallace also establishing a private practice at Primecare, moving to his own rooms in 1999. Dr Kent-Smith started his private practice with Dr Wallace in 2001.
At the establishment of the company, work on building a dedicated day-surgery eye centre was begun, with the first official business day being Wednesday August 10 2005, and the first operating list taking place on August 22. The modernist design of the new rooms tells everyone that we are developing our practices now and for the future.
Dr Wallace, whose dream Eye Specialists was, was tragically killed in a boating accident in October 2007; he is greatly missed.
In 2008 Dr Kent-Smith was joined by Dr Wayne Birchall.
In November 2008 Eye Specialists gained 4 year accreditation with Quality Health New Zealand, providing an external validation of the high level of quality service and outcome we strive to maintain and improve upon.
Where are we now?
Dr Kent-Smith, Dr Wayne Birchall and visiting (monthly) retinal specialist A/Prof Philip Polkinghorne.
The centre is equipped with the best diagnostic and therapeutic equipment available from the Heidelberg Retinal Tomography (HRT) instrument for glaucoma assessment, to the high definition Spectral Domain Ocular Coherence Tomography (OCT) scanner for managing patients with retinal diseases such as macular degeneration.
We place a lot of emphasis on highly accurate preoperative measurements with cataract surgery, using the IOL Master, immersion ultrasonography instruments. Corneal topography and manual keratometry are routinely performed pre-operatively. We have recently installed a new Zeiss Lumera operating microscope for enhanced operative visualisation. We use some of the best surgical instruments and equipment available, including Alcon’s Infiniti system for cataract surgery.
A range of intra-ocular lenses are used in cataract surgery including the new specialised implants for multi-focal vision and astigmatism correction to selected patients.
The Eye Specialists’ staff are an important part of the practice, and have all been carefully chosen to fulfil their specialised role. They have a strong reputation in Northland for their personal attention and care with patients, as well as their technical expertise. All staff have an individual position development programme to allow them to continuously improve their skills and realise their potential in their speciality.
"We provide a highly professional, highly skilled service which strives to provide the best possible outcome for our patients."
