Hospital offers eye ops under general anaesthetic

The new day surgery theatre means surgeons can perform the procedures again

Patients in Yeovil can now be offered eye surgery under general anaesthetic for the first time in a "generation" after the hospital's new day surgery theatre opened.

The first ocular operation under general anaesthesia was peformed earlier in the summer by Dr Paritosh Shah.

Previously, patients were sent over the border to Dorest in Sherborne, where patients were only given local pain relief.

The hospital said it has new "state of the art" facilities, and suitable patients will now be offered the new surgeries.

Dr Sanjay Arampatta, lead ophthalmology anaesthetist at Yeovil Hospital said: "With the opening of our new day theatre at Yeovil Hospital last year, our ophthalmology team got together and decided to look at whether we could relocate all these procedures to Yeovil instead.

"This was feasible, and our ophthalmology surgical unit found a new home.

"This is fantastic news for those patients who don't like to have eye surgery done under local anaesthesia, which involves eye drops and injections."

Mr Shah, a consultant ophthalmologist at Yeovil Hospital, added: "For years, we have strived to provide the option of having surgery under general anaesthesia for patients who struggle with local anaesthesia during eye procedures.

"Setting up a new service takes significant effort, and I want to express my deepest gratitude to everyone involved.

"This is truly a landmark achievement for our ophthalmology service at Yeovil."