Mr George Saleh

I bring a wealth of experience to my patients at Spire Harpenden Hospital, specialising in cataract removal and eye surgery. I have a caring and personable attitude towards my patients, providing excellent clinical care.

I am a Consultant Ophthalmic and Oculoplastic Surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital based at the Bedford Unit and I am the Cataract Surgical Lead. I have an honorary contract with the Luton and Dunstable Hospital and draw regional referrals for watery eyes, eyelid, cancer and cosmetic work and undertake intraocular refractive work with premium and toric IOLs.

I qualified in Medicine from Imperial College, London and underwent basic specialist ophthalmology training in the London and the East Anglia Regions before completing my higher specialist training at Moorfields Eye Hospital. I was awarded the Gold Medal as the most distinguished candidate for the clinical and surgical ophthalmic Fellowship Examination. During my undergraduate studies I was awarded the highest first class distinction for my BSc.

I have published over 60 scientific articles and given over 150 lectures relating to ophthalmology. These articles are on ophthalmic surgery, the eyelids and surrounding tissue, tumours, watery eye, reconstruction, eye investigations, diabetes, multifocal IOLs and cataract surgery along with surgical training. I am the primary investigator for several ongoing studies investigating novel diagnostic methods and treatments in ophthalmology, also the lead on a national collaboration investigating tumours of the eyelid and surrounding tissues and the regional lead for the Intraocular Lens Study Group (a multicentre collaboration) investigating Multifocal IOLs.

I undertook an extended subspecialty fellowship in oculoplastic and lacrimal surgery at Moorfields Eye Hospital focusing on conditions such as lid lumps, tumours and malpositions, watery eyes and lacrimal problems along with orbitofacial cosmetic surgery and rejuvenation. I have lectured widely both at national and international levels on periocular facial plastics and cataract surgery.
I am the UK lead on the International Council of Ophthalmology’s Cataract Assessment Taskforce through which I have worked on developing cataract tools being adopted in many parts of the world and I am the primary investigator for the International Forum for Ophthalmic Simulation investigating virtual reality ophthalmic surgical training systems.

I head up several other teams investigating novel technologies relating to eye surgery and have received grants for work on eyelid surgery, cataract surgery, general ophthalmology among others.

To date I have performed over 10,000 Cataract procedures, 5,000 cyst removal and carried out over 4000 other eyelid procedures over a 15 year period in both my NHS and private practice.

For a number of years, I have been dedicated to charitable endeavours involving ophthalmology. Over the last decade I have traveled to the Far East many times, to work with the Lifeline Express Charity, which involves operating facilities integrated into trains, that travel to rural populations to deliver cataract surgery and other forms of ophthalmic care.

I have delivered both cataract and oculoplastic training internationally, to support colleagues and patients in developing countries and travelled to St John’s Hospital in Jerusalem, undertaken non-profit activities in the Middle East, and visited sub-saharan Africa to establish voluntary work links.

Additionally, I also lead on charitable fund raising activities to raise money for equipment and safer patient care.