I love spending time with people, listening, investigating, and problem-solving. Thankfully, this is what I do all day as an optometrist.
The beauty of being able to do this at Taylor-West is threefold. First is the time set aside to spend with each patient, a luxury rarely offered to either the practitioner or the patient at most practices one may encounter. Second is access to great diagnostic equipment as a routine part of the eye examination. This means eye symptoms can be properly investigated, and clinical expertise can be properly applied and communicated interactively to patients. The third is being part of a team who delivers the best visual and aesthetic outcome to every client.

My interest in physics, biology, anatomy, and human interaction directed my path toward the Health Sciences and I qualified with a distinction in Optometry from the University of Durban-Westville in South Africa with a Merit for Outstanding Performance in Clinical Optometry. My professional journey commenced in South Africa, working for the Red Cross Flying Ambulance service, providing eyecare to rural communities with limited access to healthcare.

London is the place I now call home. I qualified and registered to practice as an optometrist in the UK in 2002. My inclination has always been towards the independent optometry setting, an environment that in my opinion facilitates broader professional growth and freedom and offers patients a bespoke choice of services and products. I’ve had the privilege of practising at some of the best optometry practices in London, including Auerbach and Steele Opticians, where I spent over 12 years as the lead optometrist. During this time, I undertook a postgraduate degree at City University and was awarded a first-class master’s degree in Clinical Optometry (MSc Advanced Practice in Health and Social Care) in 2018 and received the Hedley Lacey Memorial Prize for Therapeutics.

Following a clinical placement at St Thomas’ Hospital Eye Services in 2019, and successfully completing the Therapeutics Common Final Assessment in Independent Prescribing run by the College of Optometrists, I obtained an independent prescribing (IP) qualification in 2020.

I now divide my professional time between working as part of a team of optometrists and ophthalmologists in a private eye clinic, and my work as a community optometrist in independent practices.