Initial consultation price:
£250
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About Miss Zahra Ashena
Personal Profile
Miss Zahra Ashena is an expert ophthalmologist, with subspeciality in corneal diseases, cataract and refractive surgery. She treats self-pay and insured patients with a wide range of conditions including complex cataracts, corneal diseases like keratoconus, blepharitis and dry eye, pterygium, allergic eye disease, corneal infections, opacities, and dystrophies. She is a qualified refractive surgeon, who undertakes lens-based surgeries with premium lenses, for glasses independence.
Training
Miss Ashena qualified in Medicine with an honours degree in 2005. Being interested in integrated health, she completed a BSc degree in Holistic Medicine at the University of Westminster in 2009 before starting her training in ophthalmology.
She completed her ophthalmology training in Severn and KSS (Kent, Surrey and Sussex) deaneries and became a qualified ophthalmologist in 2018. This was followed by a fellowship in the anterior segment of the eye at Sussex Eye Hospital, Brighton, for two years, where she gained extensive experience in the medical and surgical management of corneal diseases, complex cataract surgeries and anterior segment reconstruction procedures.
Practice
She has been appointed as a Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust since 2021, where she leads the Cataract Service, performs high-volume and complex cataract surgeries, corneal procedures including transplants, and deals with patients with corneal pathologies on a regular basis. She is a member of the British Society of Refractive Surgeons (BSRS), United Kingdom and Ireland Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (UKISCRS) and European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS). Miss Ashena has a great passion for her career, as she can make a difference in her patients’ lives by restoring their vision.
Teaching
Miss Ashena takes pride in medical education by delivering mentorship to medical students who are keen to pursue a career in ophthalmology. Moreover, she provides teaching, training and supervision to the North East London ophthalmic trainees in the clinic and operating theatre. She has been an educational supervisor to the ophthalmic trainees, where she can make a difference in their training and development pathway.
Research/Academic
Miss Ashena has a great passion for clinical research. Her research interests include cataract surgery, premium intraocular lenses in managing astigmatism and presbyopia, corneal transplant, corneal crosslinking, dry eye and refractive surgery. She has published over 35 papers in peer-reviewed journals on the above subjects, many of which were presented at national and international conferences. She is an invited reviewer for several ophthalmology journals and continues undertaking research projects in her practice. Recently, Miss Ashena has also been appointed the College examiner for the Certificate of Laser and Refractive Surgery examination (CertLRS).
Leadership
In addition to leading the Cataract Service at Queen’s Hospital Romford, Miss Ashena has been the audit lead of her department, where the performance of the unit in the management of various eye conditions has been compared against the standard performance and action plans have been suggested, where improvement was a necessity.
Personal Interests
Outside of ophthalmology, Miss Ashena enjoys oil and acrylic colour painting, with a preference for landscape sketching. Her other hobbies include playing badminton, hiking, and socialising with friends and family.
Patient Feedback
Miss Ashena's dedication is evident in the positive feedback from her patients, who praise her compassionate care and professionalism reflecting the trust and impact she has made in their well-being.
"Miss Ashena is a truly professional and conscientious doctor. She has a very kind and courteous manner."
- Anonymised patient, via I Want Great Care
"Miss Ashena made me feel very comfortable, explained things throughout the procedure and at the initial consultation - I have every confidence in her ability and no reservations recommending her."
-Anonymised Patient, via I Want Great Care
Professional Website
Clinical Interests
- Cataract surgery
- Premium intraocular lenses for glasses independence
- Refractive lens exchange
- Surgical management of astigmatism
- Implantable Collamer Lens (ICL)
- Keratoconus
- Keratitis
- Dry eye
- Pterygium
- Blepharitis
- Chalazion
- Corneal dystrophy
- Corneal transplant
- Allergic eye disease
- YAG laser capsulotomy
Professional Memberships
- Fellow of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists (FRCOphth)
- British Society of Refractive Surgeons (BSRS)
- United Kingdom and Ireland Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (UKISCRS)
- European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS)
