Mr Christopher Barras

Written by a patient at Raigmore Hospital

Having read Dr. Barras' reviews, I can only assume he was having a terrible, terrible day... I have been suffering from recurring corneal erosion and after a year, finally had my appointment in Opthamology. Dr. Barras spent about 2 minutes looking at my eye and could not locate the scratch. Having had numerous appointments with an optician and admissions to A&E, this has never been an issue before. In addition to this, Dr. Barras prescribed me medication as "this is the specialist's usual regime." I was more than happy to try this before being seen by the specialist as the procedure of scraping the eyeball obviously does not sound pleasant and if avoidable, then great! When I asked Dr. Barras what medication he was giving me he replied with "I don't have to give you anything." I reworded this and asked what he was prescribing me asking what the medication was and how it could work. He replied with "I don't know, we can't know everything." He then highlighted some side effects with the medication. I was left feeling unsure of what I was taking and had to go home and look this up myself. Furthermore, when describing the procedure of scraping the eye, Dr. Barras was the complete opposite of reassuring and described the procedure using words like "fizzle" and "burn" and highlighting numerous times that they will use "70% alcohol to burn the surface of the eye" and as he couldn't locate the scratch they would have to scrape the entire surface whilst pointing his finger at me and hitting the desk with it. I am well aware that the procedure would be painful and uncomfortable, however, if this is something short term and would end the issue with my eye long term then I am willing to have it carried out. I am of course anxious about this possibility and I feel that Dr. Barras was unprofessional in describing this procedure. I feel like he was trying to put me off which was entirely unnecessary as I was more than willing to try the medication he was prescribing me and obviously want to avoid the procedure if possible. I was extremely disappointed with the service I received from Dr. Barras and would not be willing to visit him again.

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Written by a patient at Raigmore Hospital

Mr barras took time to explain everything to me. Was up to date on new ideas regarding eye treatment. The only downside was I had to wait an hour to see him.

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Written by a patient at Raigmore Hospital

During my consultation with Dr Christopher Barras I was given a thorough examination along with a detailed explanation of what could and would be done with regard to my problem. Pre surgery, again everything was explained with regard to what procedure would take place and afterwards what had been successfully achieved. Waiting times from GP visit to first Opthalmology Clinic appointment was 5+ months, this clinic is obviously very busy as experienced with the three attendances I made and the waiting involved beyond scheduled appointment time. Having said that I am extremely happy with the result. Edwin J McDonald

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Written by a patient at Raigmore Hospital

Great patient care taken. Excellent doctor.

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Written by a patient at Raigmore Hospital

The Ophthalmology Clinic is notoriously slow as it is always full and there never seems to be enough doctors in evidence - my previous appointments have taken anywhere from 50 minutes to over an hour to be seen. Today, however, there was only one person ahead of me and I was taken very quickly. I don't think I've seen the same doctor twice in the 4+ years I've attended the clinic - there have been an ever changing number of young doctors (students?) and heavily accented older doctors (locums?) but today I saw Mr. Barras himself. He was friendly and reassuring, and willing to take the time to answer my questions. I was concerned about the possibility of having a small procedure, as I'm sensitive to some medicines and have had reactions to anaesthetics in the past, but Dr. Barras allayed my fears. He took the time to look through my notes and identify an anaesthetic I had a few years ago without incident, and has made a note of it in my records, should it be required in future. Dr. Barras' clinical experience of 300-400 similar patients to me, means I can accept his diagnosis that the problem is benign, and be reassured. He projects the confidence that some of the younger doctors don't seem to have. So, this was a very good visit to what is normally a very busy clinic - I hope the clinic can continue to keep the waiting times reasonable.

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