Prof Tom Williamson

MD MBChB, FRCS(Glas), FRCOphth

Prof Tom H Williamson is a vitreoretinal surgeon with wide experience of surgical interventions for retinal disease with 500 operations performed under his care annually. He has specialist interest in dealing with diseases of the retina but also manages general ophthalmic conditions. He has extensive experience in managing patients with disorders of the retina and the vitreous, and performs all types of retinal surgery (with the largest international single surgeon dataset of over 10,000 operations), including new innovative techniques.

Education & Training

Professor Williamson studied medicine at Glasgow University Medical School, qualifying in l984 with Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB). He subsequently proceeded to train in ophthalmology in Aberdeen, Cambridge, Glasgow and London specialising in vitreoretinal disorders from 1995 to the present day.

Professor Williamson is extensively involved in the training and teaching of future generations of ophthalmic surgeons and has trained approximately 30 vitreoretinal fellows as part of a highly sought after, international fellowship programme at St Thomas’ Hospital, London. Many of these fellows have gone on to be appointed Consultant Vitreoretinal Surgeons either in the United Kingdom or abroad.

As a Visiting Professor in Biological Sciences and Engineering at the University of Surrey, and a Clinical Lecturer at Kings College London, Professor Williamson also has a strong track record of research and development in the area of retinal disease. He has produced over 190 publications as books, book chapters and papers in national and international scientific journals.

In 2007 he was one of three Consultant Ophthalmologists who founded the Eyehope charity which aims to continue supporting research, teaching and training in diseases of the eye.

Centre for Sight Consultant professor Tom Williamson
Sheraz Daya inspecting a patients eye at Centre for Sight

Interests & Specialty Research Interests

Prof Tom Williamson has extensive experience in undertaking most types of general ophthalmic procedures, including modern techniques in cataract (phacoemulsification) surgery.

Speciality

Retinal Detachment Surgery

Retinal detachment is a serious condition of the eye in which the retina stops receiving oxygen.

Cataract Surgery

A cataract is an eye condition where the focussing lens in the eye becomes cloudy and interferes with vision. With increasing age, the lens begins to harden, causing problems for seeing near (presbyopia) and eventually becomes cloudy blurring vision.

Additional Information

Memberships

Tom Williamson is involved in a number of national committees, which implement standards for all ophthalmologists. These include:

  • Member of the British and Eire Association of Vitreoretinal Surgeons (BEAVRS)
  • Member of the European Retina, Macular and Vitreous Society (EURETINA)
  • Member of the Gonin Society of Viteoretinal Surgeons
  • Member of the American Society of Retinal Surgeons
  • Member of the British Medical Association (BMA)
Awards
  • Author of Vitreoretinal Surgery (Springer, ISBN 978-3-642-31871-9) the premier international text for training in vitreoretinal surgery
  • Invited Speaker, Dutch Ophthalmological Society, 125th Anniversary, Maastricht, Netherlands (2017)
  • Faculty Member Advanced Vitreous Surgery course, 20th Anniversary, Duke University, NC, USA (2017)
  • Commissioned trainer, Hong Kong University, (2013)
  • North of England Ophthalmological Society Medal (2012)
  • Published over 170 publications on clinical topics in vitreoretinal surgery and ophthalmology, making him one of the premier opinions in vitreoretinal surgery internationally
Affiliated Insurance Companies

Centre for Sight is recognised by a number of private medical insurance companies and Mr Tom Williamson is a registered provider to:

  • AllianceP
  • April
  • AXA PPP
  • Aviva
  • Bupa
  • Cigna
  • CS Healthcare
  • Exeter Friendly
  • Freedom
  • General Medical
  • Groupama
  • Healix
  • Health-Online
  • Legal & General Insurance
  • National Assurance
  • PruHealth
  • Saga
  • Simple Health
  • Vitality
  • WPA
Publications
  • Author of Vitreoretinal Surgery (Springer, ISBN 978-3-642-31871-9) the premier international text for training in vitreoretinal surgery
  • Numerous book chapters including for The Atlas of Clinical Ophthalmology, winner of the best medical text book in the British Medical Association 2005 awards
  • Published over 170 publications on clinical topics in vitreoretinal surgery and ophthalmology, making him one of the premier opinions in vitreoretinal surgery internationally
  • Author of Intraocular Surgery (Springer, ISBN 978-3-319-27988-6, 2016) a text of the fundamentals of ophthalmological surgical technique
  • The management of macular hole retinal detachment and macular retinoschisis in pathological myopia; a UK collaborative study. Laviers H, Li JO, Grabowska A, Charles SJ, Charteris D, Haynes RJ, Laidlaw DAH, Steel DH, Yorston D, Williamson TH, Zambarakji H; COllaboration of British RetinAl Surgeons (COBRA) study group. Eye (Lond). 2018 Nov;32(11):1743-1751. doi: 10.1038/s41433-018-0166-4. Epub 2018 Jul 16.
  • Vitreoretinal surgery on the fellow eye: A retrospective analysis of 18 years of surgical data from a tertiary center in England. Fajgenbaum MAP, Wong RS, Laidlaw DAH, Williamson TH. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2018 May;66(5):681-686. doi: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_1176_17.
  • THE ROLE OF INTRAOCULAR GAS TAMPONADE IN RHEGMATOGENOUS RETINAL DETACHMENT: A Synthesis of the Literature. Neffendorf JE, Gupta B, Williamson TH. Retina. 2018 Sep;38 Suppl 1:S65-S72. doi: 10.1097/IAE.0000000000002015