FAQs

Please contact our bookings team who will be able to advise on the relevant consultation costs and applicable medicare rebates.  Should further diagnostic tests be required to further assess your condition at your visit there may be an additional cost.  Payment is required at the time of consultation.

Dr Sharwood is happy to see patients without a Medicare referral, however no Medicare rebate will be applicable.

Dr Sharwood doesn’t bulk bill patients seen at her private clinics at Queensland Ophthalmic Specialists or Eye Care Queensland. Dr Sharwood provides consultations and treatment at no cost to patients at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and Queensland Childrens Hospital for patients within these catchment areas. Should you require treatment without out of pocket expenses please ask your referrer to send your referral directly to the public hospital outpatients (note that significant wait times may apply for conditions that are not sight threatening and there is no guarantee of seeing the doctor of your choosing)

Australian private health insurance doesn’t cover medical care provided as an outpatient. Most patient will receive a medicare rebate to cover part of the cost. 

If you are visiting Dr Sharwood with a condition that may require dilating drops to assess such as cataract or issues with your retina or back of the eye you will be unable to drive for 1-2 hours after your visit.  Please call Queensland Ophthalmic Specialists if you have any questions relating to this.

Dr Sharwood can perform an eye examination at any time after birth. The examination will be tailored to the age of the child and their developmental status as well as your concern about your child’s eye. Your child does not need to be verbal (or even that cooperative) for a clinically useful examination to occur. The specialist orthoptists that work alongside Dr Sharwood are trained to assess a child’s visual performance at all levels of age and development. Instillation of drops that dilate your child’s eyes and relax the focusing system allow measurement of any necessary glasses prescription and examination of the health of the eye in children with minimal cooperation on their part.

Most “Hospital” private health insurance policies will cover the cost of your hospital admission as well as a reasonable portion of your surgeon, anaesthetist and surgical assistant fees.  Dr Sharwood participates in the “gap scheme” for most private health funds to help minimise your out of pocket. Please note that Cataract Surgery is only covered in “Gold Level” and some extended “Silver Level” policies. Policies that only cover surgery within a public hospital and “extras” policies will not cover your surgery. Prior to your surgery you will received a detailed estimate of costs with the item numbers that apply to your surgery. You should contact your health fund with these numbers and estimates to confirm the coverage prior to surgery.

Yes you can. Since eye surgery can be done as a day procedure many patients find it more cost effective to self fund private surgery for their eye conditions than to pay for a private health insurance policy. Dr Sharwood works with the private hospitals to provide cost effective surgery for patients without health insurance. You will still receive some Medicare rebate for the surgeon, surgical assistant and anaesthetist even if you don’t have health insurance.  A detailed estimate of costs will be provided to you prior to your surgery. The vast majority of eye procedures cost less than $5000. For patients that are unable to meet the costs of private surgery, referral to the public system is available.

Most surgical procedures on the eye will require 1-2 weeks off work to recover.

Most children will be able to return to school or daycare after 1 week. After minor cases such as tear duct probings and removal of eyelid lumps they can return to school/daycare the following day.

This depends on the procedure and your expected visual recover. For most procedures it will be between 3 days to 2 weeks to return to driving.

It is essential to avoid rubbing your eyes following the surgery as this can cause issues with wound healing and surgical outcomes. Swimming, lifting heavy objects, performing dirty manual tasks and doing high impact exercise should be avoided for the first few weeks after surgery. It is recommended young children remain away from sandpits for 2 weeks after surgery to avoid getting sand in their eyes.

Depending on your procedure, Dr Sharwood recommends a graded return to normal activities.  Gentle low impact exercise is allowed after 3 -5 days with more vigorous exercise and swimming 2-3 weeks after surgery.

In most cases Dr Sharwood suggests splashing water on your face for the first 48 hours (cooled boiled water on a clean cotton pad/tissue may be used to clean the eye) and only using the prescribed drops. You are able to have a shower, just avoid getting your face wet.  After the first 48hrs you can wash your hair and shower but close your eyes when wetting your face.

Dr Sharwood performs most surgical procedures on adults as day only cases at Westside Private Hospital. Alternatively St Andrews War Memorial Hospital is an option for patients who require overnight stay.  Surgery on children under the age of 12 years is usually done at Brisbane Day Surgery as a day procedure. A specialist paediatric anaesthetist is used for all children.   

All procedures in children are performed under general anaesthetic.

Cataract surgery is performed under a combination of  twilight and local anaesthesia which is safe for patients regardless of age with all but the most severe health problems.

Strabismus surgery is usually performed under general anaesthetic unless you have significant health issues.

Patients who are discharged with a patch on their eye will usually remove this themselves that afternoon the following day. If your procedure is done on both eyes then eye patches are generally not used.

Dr Sharwood will discuss the ongoing follow-up requirements with you when the surgery is booked or at the first post-operative appointment.  These vary between conditions and also depend on whether the patient is based in Brisbane or regionally.