Miss Sarah-Lucie Watson

Professional statement

Miss Sarah-Lucie Watson is an award-winning and leading Consultant ophthalmic surgeon based in Reading and Newbury, specialising in refractive cataract surgery, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), YAG laser treatment (capsulotomy), acute (emergency) and general eye conditions. She practices privately at Circle Reading Hospital and Spire Dunedin Hospital and for the NHS at The Royal Berkshire Hospital and West Berkshire Community Hospital (Newbury) where she has been the Lead Clinical Consultant for the last 3 years.

She can reduce spectacle dependence by using toric and trifocal lenses, following removal of cataract. Miss Watson also provides expert private services in wet and dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) providing full assessments with cutting-edge scanning, autofluorescence and angiography. She is happy to offer advice and treatment for diabetic eye disease, vascular problems (retinal vein occlusion) inflammatory conditions (uveitis) and any abnormalities detected on OCT scanning by community optometrists. She performs intravitreal injections of Lucentis, Eylea, Avastin, and the latest drug developed for AMD- Vabysmo (faricimab) using a novel device that improves comfort and experience.

She is well-respected in the field of ophthalmology, providing services based on the latest evidence and emerging technologies. She has over 25 years of experience and was nominated several times for, and won, the top clinician award by the Macular Society for her services for people with macular disease. She has been awarded six NHS clinical excellence awards in her career. Her expertise is also reflected in the support for patients and carers she can provide with her team, when restoration of normal sight is not always possible.

Previous roles for the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, include clinical lead for the Berkshire county diabetic eye screening service for seven years and clinical governance lead encouraging an environment with learning from errors and complications within the department.

She has been involved with the education and training of junior surgeons throughout her career and was appointed College Tutor for the Berkshire trainees in the Oxford deanery for six years. This involves first teaching the first surgical stages using simulators to safe surgery for routine and complex cataract cases at the Royal Berkshire Hospital.

Miss Watson is a highly qualified professional with an esteemed education and training background. She graduated from King's College Hospital in London with an MBBS in 1988, where she was awarded the William Simpson award for tropical medicine. Following general training in every area of ophthalmology across London and the South, she completed her FRCOphth in 1994. She then finished senior training and her medical retina specialist fellowship at the respected and world-renowned Moorfields Eye Hospital in 2003.

She has presented her academic research in improving patient outcomes from intravitreal therapy and training techniques in cataract surgery, nationally and internationally. Miss Watson has also had her work published in peer-reviewed journals, has been the co-author for nationally recognised guidelines and worked on several advisory boards.

She has been an advisor to the Macular Society and trustee for Blind Veterans UK, a charity providing support for those who have served in the armed forces and now have impaired sight. She supported the Royal British Legion cycling from London to Paris with her husband (retired Lt General James Bashall CB, CBE). Furthermore, she has been a volunteer trainer for the Kwale District Eye Centre in rural Kenya for 8 years, visiting annually and supporting Eyes for East Africa helping with the development of screening for diabetic eye disease and treatment of cataract, glaucoma and retinal conditions.