primary sources . please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . june 2008 learn how and when to remove this template message ultralase type limited company industry healthcare founded 1991 headquarters leeds england key people russell ambrose ceo website www.ultralase.com ultralase is a healthcare company based in the united kingdom that specialises in vision correction through laser eye surgery . contents 1 overview and history 2 ultralase in the house of commons 3 controversy 4 laser eye surgery services 5 references 6 external links overview and history edit established in 1991 by us based ophthalmologist claus fichte optometrist andrew bell and business man christopher neave ultralase were the first to introduce a national network of laser eye surgery clinics in the uk . following the success of the world s first refractive surgery clinic opened by us based investors in toronto 1989 the uk s first ever laser eye surgery clinic was opened at clatterbridge hospital wirral in january 1991 . this clinic was the first to perform laser eye surgery in the uk and expanded to become the ultralase network . 1 ultralase was purchased by 3i following the 175m purchase from corporacion dermoestetica in january 2008 2 who had bought the business in may 2005 for 29m . 3 ultralase in the house of commons edit dr. ashok kumar a british labour party politician made a motion on 4 february 2004 concerning laser eye surgery and mentioning ultralase in the british house of commons 1 laser eye surgery was developed by the ophthalmologist dr. steven trokel in 1987 and first used on a patient in germany in 1988 . the first laser eye treatment clinic using dr. trokel s laser was founded by us based investors in toronto in 1989 . following the success of the us operation the first uk clinic was opened at clatterbridge hospital in wirral in january 1991 . it grew into a string of clinics now known as ultralase one of britain s foremost laser eye treatment providers . ... while researching the subject i have become aware that there are those who exemplify the best practice which i feel needs to be rolled out across the sector . ultralase whose chairman christopher neave is also chief executive of the relatively new industry body the eye laser association is one of the larger independent health care providers in the laser eye surgery sector . it does not simply operate within company standards which appear to be more severe than those required at the statutory level at present . indeed during a recent meeting i was most impressed to note that certain changes that i recommended are to be added to its guidance as a direct result of our meeting . controversy edit on the 8th of october 2015 ultralase was subject to criticism by the bbc programme watchdog . the story covered the change of company ownership the administration and reformation of the company and the lifetime guarantee not being honoured . laser eye surgery services edit ultralase perform the following forms of laser eye surgery lasik where a corneal flap is surgically created and lifted allowing the laser to reshape the layer underneath . lasek similar to lasik except a solution is used to soften the surface cells which are lifted back . intraocular lens iol implanting a type of lens inside the eye rather than on its surface . ultra ck reshaping the cornea with the use of radio waves . references edit a b house of commons hansard debates for 4 feb 2004 pt 33 thompson reuters 2007 12 27 . dermoestetica to sell eye unit ultralase to 3i . david challinor 2005 05 20 . ultralase sold for 30m to valencia based giant . external links edit ultralase laser eye surgery website ultralase patient reviews on lasik eyes.co.uk retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title ultralase & oldid 704566727 categories health care companies of the united kingdomcompanies based in leedshidden categories articles lacking reliable references from june 2008all articles lacking reliable references navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 12 february 2016 at 06 30 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view