Ben Burton

Prof Ben Burton was elected President of the RCOphth in 2023. 

He is a Consultant Ophthalmologist with particular expertise in cataract surgery, age related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, uveitis and neuro-ophthalmology.

He studied at Cambridge University then trained in Ophthalmology at the world famous Moorfields Eye Hospital before moving to James Paget University Hospital in 2007.

Since arriving he has had a huge impact on the hospital's eye service. He set up the Age Related Macular Degeneration service in 2008 and became Clinical Lead for the department in 2009. The department is now probably the best equipped eye unit in East Anglia and provides superb training for junior doctors, having a state of the art cataract surgery training simulator.

He became Honorary Professor at University of East Anglia in 2020 and trains both medical students from Norwich Medical School and trainee ophthalmologists who will become the eye surgeons of the future.

He has had an active role within the hospital having been elected Medical Staff Committee chairman in 2014 and became a member of the Hospital Management Board.

Professor Burton has pioneered research in the eye department, and it is now the most research active department in the hospital. He was appointed Clinical Research and Development Director for the trust in 2015.

As an active contributor to research journals and books, he has published more than 85 papers, 6 chapters and has gained 14 prizes and awards.

He is a keen teacher and has been invited to give lectures in places as far flung as the Ukraine and Malaysia.

He is a co-founder of the East Point Consulting rooms (www.epcr.org.uk), a private clinic located in the James Paget University Hospital allowing his private patients to benefit from the outstanding quality of cataract machines and retinal imaging equipment available at the hospital.

He is married, with four children and two Labradors and lives in Norwich.

NHS Secretary: 01493 45 2762

Research Coordinator: 01493 453856

Private Secretary: 01493 452234

Private Website: www.benburton.org.uk