NHS patients at a specialist eye hospital have benefited from a new approach to cataract surgery.

Optegra Eye Hospital Hampshire has become the first in the UK, and possibly the world, to offer a "treble" of cataract care to NHS patients.

This includes drop-free surgery, pre-op consultation and treatment on the same day, and bilateral surgery, where both eyes are treated in one procedure.

While these elements have been individually practised before, Optegra is the first to combine all three.

The hospital now plans to extend this drop-free surgery to all its NHS patients in the UK in the coming weeks.

Optegra medical director and consultant ophthalmic surgeon, Mr Alastair Stuart, said: "This trial at our Hampshire hospital is our latest approach in putting patients’ care and experience as well as outcomes at the very centre of what we do.

"For many years now we have been providing high-volume cataract surgeries for the NHS with the lowest complication rates, but we don’t want to stand still.

"We are always looking at ways to innovate and improve our care for patients, and this approach has delivered the ultimate in convenience, as well as a medical advance which really is outstanding."

Mr Stuart explained that the drop-free surgery involves a steroid injection as part of the surgical procedure, eliminating the need for post-operative eye drops.

He also highlighted the benefits of treating both eyes on the same day, which avoids the discomfort and imbalance experienced by patients when only one eye is treated at a time.

The patients who participated in this trial at Optegra Eye Hospital Hampshire were pleased with the care they received.

Jim Hayles, 70, from Southampton, said: "I feel in very safe hands it is so professionally run here.

"So two eyes at the same time means I do not have to worry about having two ops and two lots of everything, so yes, that’s great."

The trial is now being reviewed with a view to rolling out drop-free NHS cataract surgery across the group’s 17 NHS hospitals and clinics.