One of Australia’s top eye surgeons brings his talents to Wollongong

Story sponsored by Wollongong Refractive Laser Eye Institute.

It’s not uncommon for a father and son to be alike, after all, half of their DNA is the same. But what isn’t common is for one family to produce two world renowned doctors, each of whom made their mark in the field of medicine over successive generations. That’s exactly what happened with the Hughes family.

Late last year, esteemed ophthalmologist Dr Paul Hughes (pictured) returned home to his childhood stomping ground to serve the community his father, the late Dr Herbert Hughes, did when he was a boy. He’s joined a team of top ophthalmologists at the Wollongong Refractive Laser Eye Institute (WRLEI) in Warilla, the first and only laser refractive centre on the NSW South Coast and Wollongong Eye Specialists in Wollongong where he is the Medical Director.

Dr Hughes is well known within the medical community.  Not only does he have the reputation as one of the best eye surgeons in the country – having looked after a large number of patients including some very high profile patients. He was also instrumental in developing and bringing the latest laser technologies to Australia. 

In 1983, he went to North America to learn Radial Keratotomy (RK) refractive surgery and brought this specialty back to Australia. He was also one of the first to perform Automated Lamellar Keratoplasty (ALK) and was the first to set up an independent excimer laser suite in the country. 

In fact, Dr Hughes is so highly regarded that early in the new millennium he was invited to be part of a research and development team which would continue to develop the laser technology. 

“Laser eye surgery has come a long way. It has been developed enormously over the years,” Dr Hughes explained, adding WRLEI is fully equipped with the latest refractive laser technology, facilitating their highly qualified team of ophthalmologists to perform the full range of corrective laser procedures, the type that would’ve been almost unimaginable in his father’s day.

“We have been doing eye surgery with laser and we’re actually now into the third generation of laser,” Dr Hughes said.

“The first generation of laser (PRK) just did the surface. With the second generation (LASIK) we had to cut a flap and reshape the cornea… the advantage of that was that the improvement was almost instantaneous...   Now we’re on to the third generation which is called SMILE (small incision lenticule extraction).”

SMILE, he explained, is minimally invasive and doesn’t even require a flap. It’s a form of keyhole eye surgery. In fact, the laser only makes a 3mm incision and allows the ophthalmologist to correct the vision without using a blade.

WRLEI has the state of the art facility to perform all three types of laser eye surgery, dependent upon patient needs, and their team of surgeons are all highly experienced.

In fact, Dr Hughes spent more than 40 years in private practice before he commenced working exclusively in the Illawarra and has worked in all over the world. He has been a trail blazer within the field of ophthalmology. 

He has fond memories of growing up in the Gong and is proud to be able to help bring state of the art laser technology to the region. With one of the most advanced lasers in the country, he hopes to continue his life’s work of helping people see clearly again. 

“The lasers we use today are so much faster and so much more precise (than anything in the years gone by),” he said.

“(So much so) that we’re actually disappointed (now) if the patient isn’t reading the bottom line on the charts within days after surgery.”

For more information on the full range of laser eye surgeries available at the Wollongong Refractive Laser Eye Institute. They are located at 208 Shellhabour Rd, Warilla and can be contacted on 02 4263 0522. For more information click here.

Story sponsored by Wollongong Refractive Laser Eye Institute.