Optimax Patients

In the next 30 minutes, ten years ago today, I would make the biggest mistake of my life, with irreparable damage to my eyes and life after being sold a pack of lies - by optom Swati Malkan, sales person Rui Pedro (now clinic manager at Focus), negligent surgeon Wilbert Hoe, and Optimax owner Russell Keith Ambrose, who is of course ultimately responsible for the entire sickening set up!



Taking an optimistic view, the irreparable damage inflicted by Optimax en masse became the biggest mistake for the UK refractive surgery industry

Because my experience lead me to launch My Beautiful Eyes Foundation, patient advocacy service and campaign group calling for government regulation, and with the help of others damaged by these risky and unregulated operations, our stories on OERML website forum, and elsewhere, have successfully warned many 1000s of people not to do it, also costing the industry millions fighting legal claims from those for whom its too late.

Ten years is a long time, and I've decided it’s time to disclose some of the details of my ongoing personal battle with Russell Ambrose not yet told, so I intend to publish some of the shocking information only disclosed to me under my second Subject Access Request to Optimax in 2017, proving that Russell lied to me from the first time we met, on Friday 13 May 2011.

I signed a settlement agreement with Russell in September 2012, negotiated in person over 18 months, without legal representation (meetings all recorded), but had I been in possession of the truth, I would have instructed a law firm to represent me, the reasons for which you will understand in my next post.

In the interim, snippets from two of our many emails exchanged over the years...

• 7 March 2011, Russell to a surgeon after trying to convince me that my eyes could be fixed - at least he didn't insult me and call it an ‘enhancement’!:
'I confirm that I am happy to pay for Sasha Rodoy’s re-treatment.
I hope she takes the plunge and puts herself and all of us out of this misery.’

• 8 July 2013, Russell to me: 'If you want to start a war then I will fight it till the end.’

For almost 10 years I have frequently and vehemently argued against refractive eye surgery being referred to as ‘cosmetic’, because though sold in a similarly careless manner, this is invasive surgery that changes how we see, NOT how we are seen - a highly significant distinction



I was therefore disgusted to see this advertising for cosmetic eyelid surgery, sold by and performed within the Optimax/Ultralase UK refractive eye surgery clinics, guaranteed to mislead the uninformed into thinking laser and/or lens replacement surgery are cosmetic procedures!
www.optimax.co.uk/eye-health/cosmetic-eye-surgery/

More misleading advertising, because this bio would suggest that refractive surgery is provided by nhs.uk: 'Mr Radwan Almousa joined Optimax in January 2020 and therefore, at this juncture we do not have specific success rates, or patient and surgeon satisfaction figures relating to his time at Optimax. He has, however, performed surgeries for other refractive eye surgery providers and the NHS.'
www.optimax.co.uk/surgeons/mr-radwan-almousa/

I called Optimax this afternoon to confirm whether they were still open for cosmetic surgery during lockdown - hairdressers & gyms closed, but according to the company it's apparently quite safe to have cosmetic eye surgery!

Reading from their website, I then asked who else Radwan Almousa was highly regarded by (other than Optimax), and the woman paused before answering, ‘It’d be [people] within his field… he does all sorts, he does laser surgery as well’.

For the record, I had never heard of Radwan Almousa (hopefully more skilled at operating than spelling!), and I know of most of the genuinely ‘highly regarded’ ophthalmologists in this country: www.radwanalmousa.com
I asked where this Jack of all trades would be operating, and the woman told me that I'd be going to the Harley Street clinic, explaining that Ultralase UK is their sister company.

More about this ‘highly renowned’ doctor, seemingly scratching for work by the look of things:
'Dr Radwan
Surgery carried out by industry expert.
Dr Almousa is a qualified Consultant Oculoplastic Surgeon and an expert in the field of Blepharoplasty.'
www.cosmeticeyeclinics.co.uk

Help stop Optimax & Ultralase ruining even more people's lives AND increase awareness of this unregulated industry!

Please post your reviews - and share/retweet the links!


www.optimaxreviews.co.uk


twitter.com/OptimaxReviews


www.instagram.com - optimaxreviews


ultralasereviews.co.uk/

If you'd like to contribute your story and experience at Optimax or Ultralase, please email: info@optimaxruinedmylife.net

Thanks
Leigh

Well done Leigh. I sent you an email.

By the way, the admin@optimaxruinedmylife.net email didn't work for me, but info@optimaxruinedmylife.net did seem to go through ...

Guy
___________________
Thanks Guy - I've amended below!
Leigh

Help stop Optimax ruining even more people's lives AND increase awareness of this unregulated industry!


www.optimaxruinedmylife.net


twitter.com/OptimaxRML

Please take a look and if you'd like to to contribute your stories and experiences at Optimax (or sister company Ultralase) please email: info@optimaxruinedmylife.net

Thanks
Leigh

Responding to my 16 December post re Russell Ambrose and Optimax’'s insolvency, I was contacted by disgruntled employees (ex & current) who provided me with some interesting (and highly amusing) information



On 5 October his employees received a letter from Russell, expressing crocodile tears (no MGD for him!), telling them that he was restructuring the company and had to let people go, but that it’s been, ‘great fun over the years’, signing off with, ‘Love to you all’!

He told them that, unless they’d not heard otherwise by 16 October, their jobs were safe…



Then on 5/6 November, closing the Newcastle, Peterborough and Reading premises, he deceitfully made at least 22 employees redundant - some who’d been loyal to their weasel boss for than twenty years!

Pay slips were sent out to these employees advising they would receive their holiday pay with their wages on 30 November, their last payday, but at 7pm on 29 November, Russell sent an email telling them this wasn’t going to happen, and redundant staff received only one week’s pay!

And then we have the entertaining story of David Moulsdale - playing the male equivalent of Maleficent at Sleeping Beauty’s christening...

An uninvited guest at the Optimax CVA Virtual Meeting on 27 November, in typical gangster style he’d bought one of the creditor's debts (from a cleaning supplies company), his actions described by the administrators as 'underhand', but not illegal.

Moulsdale apparently did his best to disrupt the proceedings, the following transcript as told to me by one of Russell’s creditors who was present (happy to edit if any other attendees disagree with wording)...

DM: ‘Let me buy the company!’
RA: 'Get out of this meeting, I’ve never done business with you!'
DM: 'I’ll give you £14 million!'
RA: ‘What are you talking about, you owe £60 million!’

ROTFLMAO - oh to have been there!

Yesterday I spoke with the boss of the firm handling the CVA, who kindly answered all my questions, explaining the situation in terms I could better understand.*

• RussellAmbrose had been advised to put Optimax into administration, but was adamant he won’t do this, claiming that he wanted to keep it going, because he’d invested so many millions of his own money into the company. (Odd therefore that he once criticised his arch rival for this, telling me that he believed DavidMoulsdale had stupidly invested much of his own money into Optical Express)
• Unsecured creditors will be paid only 39.8p for each £1 they are owed, whilst Optimax
will continue to trade.**
• Suppliers will be paid ‘on delivery' or via Pro Forma invoices.
• After 4 years the pre CVA debt will be written off.

At odds with his published ‘insolvency’, Russell invested more than £600,000 refurbishing his Leeds premises earlier this year, and very recently purchased new OCT machines (min £30k each), and upgraded his aged computers!

I'm told that he also plans to refurbish the Brighton premises very soon (with the huge costs allegedly being paid from his own pocket), intending to focus on lens surgery.

Do I smell NHS contracts being chased?

And it should be considered that Optimax and Ultralase both operate out of the same premises, with same surgeons, yet only Optimax in CVA!
(Specs wearing Optimax/Ultralase Medical Director Malcolm 'Pour your heart out to me' Samuel leaving end of January.)

There’s more I know that I can't yet discuss, but I have no doubt Russell has a sneaky something up his sleeve, as time (and I) will tell in due course.

* www.gov.uk/company-voluntary-arrangements
**Free to ruin more eyes and lives, while turning a profit, but the chance of going into liquidation always on the horizon.

Looks as if the p*ssing contest that's lasted more than 18 years between the two UK refractive industry market leaders (psychopathic owners Russell Ambrose at Optimax and Ultralase, and David Moulsdale at Optical Express) may soon have a loser, with Russell seemingly ready to throw in the towel



Click on the PDF to read all 11 pages: find-and-update.company-information.serv...00452/filing-history

It should be noted that amongst a number of companies, including real estate agencies, a jewellery manufacturer*, and a caravan park, Russell Ambrose also has 'EYE HOSPITALS GROUP LIMITED (08307617)’** & EYE HOSPITALS LIMITED (08874915)*** in his portfolio, which he could use to continue trading in refractive eye surgery should Optimax go into administration - Ultralase surely destined to follow the same path, given that they share the same premises and same surgeons


*'Optima Manufacturing Jewellery was founded in Birmingham, England in 1981. Initially we started manufacturing competitively priced gold jewellery to satisfy the demand from retail stores owned by the founder and current chairman Russell Ambrose.’ (pity he didn't stick to selling tacky jewellery!)
www.optimajewellery.com/about-us
** find-and-update.company-information.serv...07617/filing-history
*** find-and-update.company-information.serv....uk/company/08874915

As I suggested he was intending to do, in my 19 November Facebook post (when I also said Optegra Eye Hospital were about to announce their sale, which they did a few days later), Russell Ambrose has today put Optimax into a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA)



find-and-update.company-information.serv...00452/filing-history

I called Optimax' call centre a few minutes ago, when the person I spoke with confirmed that they are still taking bookings for surgery (initially not believing me when I told her about the CVA).

This is not good for patients, who will be left without ANY aftercare should the company go into administration next year if not sold (also unable to take legal action if necessary).

Ultralase remains solvent as yet, but I wonder for how long!
find-and-update.company-information.serv...60426/filing-history

In the meantime, a message to Russell Ambrose's loyal staff, who've mostly been kept in the dark about this (like so many of his damaged customers unable to see in low light, with our vision irreparably damaged), as many of you are likely to lose your jobs soon, I invite you to contact me with any information you think might be of interest or help to me.

Confidentiality guaranteed: sasha@mybeautifuleyes.co.uk

8 years ago today I made the Biggest mistake of my life. I had Lasik at Optimax in Manchester. It's been completely devastating for not only myself but also my husband and 2 kids. I'm not the person I was meant to be?. I've struggled every day since with poor quality of vision, light sensitivity, headaches, blurry vision to name a few. It's severely affected my quality of life and mental health, I've broken down many times over this, I still struggle to this day coming to terms with my decision. I've literally travelled the country looking for answers, and am currently being seen yet again by the NHS, they've been really kind. Optimax couldn't give a damn. I would not wish this surgery on anyone. Thank you Sasha for bringing people together.x

Today is a memorable day for me - Coffee and cake at mine... bring a mask