I have just had a most perplexing visit to Specsavers. I had decided to try them because my usual one is independent and very pricey and I’ve needed lots of changes in prescription over the last two years.
Anyway, back to Specsavers. When I asked about the free NHS test for glaucoma patients, they said that I would only get one every two years. I explainedto them that up till now, I have always been given and free NHS test annually. My father had glaucoma and so do I and I have reams of hospital correspondence to backed this up. Specsavers said that if this was my experience up to now, then my previous Opticians have been defrauding the NHS because I am only entitled to one every two years. This is so far adrift of my understanding. I have been having free NHS tests annually at at least three different Opticians since I was 40. So I did not go through with the eye test at Specsavers.
Can other people tell me what their understanding of free NHS tests for glaucoma?
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YoungontheOutside
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Hello there,I use vision express and my dad has glaucoma.Since he was diagnosed I have had a free annual eye test on the NHS.I have never been asked to provide written proof of this,they have just taken me at my word. This year however I have been diagnosed with raised pressures myself but no glaucoma at present. I take monopost eye drops every night the same as my dad.I'm 58.It was discovered at the hospital where I am being treated for thyroid eye disease.Hope this helps.
A few years ago I went to book an appointment with them and they told me that it was only every 2 years despite ,like you, a long family history and my own diagnosed glaucoma. I also had had many previous annual checks at the same practice.
After this I have mainly been to a different optician annually, who is excellent .
I wonder if the Specsaver staff just did not know much about Glaucoma ? It did make me loose confidence for many years , but I have since found some Specsavers very helpful with my 3 yearly DVLA driving tests .
Very odd, I have been receiving yearly check-ups from the nhs for years because my dad had glaucoma & I now have ocular hypertension. No queries from whatever opticians I have used over the years, just sign the nhs form to confirm. I don't think they know what they are talking about unless the criteria has suddenly changed!
Based on the NHS website ( nhs.uk/nhs-services/opticia... ) : "It's recommended that most people should get their eyes tested every 2 years. If you're eligible for a free NHS sight or eye test, the NHS pays for it and you will not be charged..... Your ophthalmic practitioner or optometrist may sometimes recommend you have an NHS sight test more often than every 2 years."
There is no fraud to ask for annual eye tests if you have glaucoma (suspect), and it's a bit ridiculous to deny one in your case. Maybe, you need to speak to someone senior in this branch or get a letter from your GP?
I have Glaucoma in one eye and have been getting really eye tests at the optition on the Nhs as well. I thought it was the norm to get it yearly if you have Glaucoma.
Thank you everyone for your comments. It confirms my understanding that it is usual for someone with glaucoma - suspect or no doubt about it - to have a funded NHS test annually.
I understand that all Specsavers franchises run to their own rules. The explanation I was given this morning was that because I have hospital monitoring visits then there is no need for me to have a check up annually.
I was with Specsavers for many years and for the last 10 years or more with Boots Optitions. Not once since my Mother was diagnosed when I was 55 have I ever had to pay for an annual eye checkup. I am 80 now
Unfortunately I now have Glaucoma and I was told that my three children would get free annual eye checks now.
I have Glaucoma and have yearly sight tests for free. If I'm worried about pressures or anything, rattler than go to A and E, I pooped into my local Specsavers and they checked my eyes out for free and sent the update to the eye hospital I'm under care of
Yes you are entitled to an annual eye test free paid for by the NHS if you or your parents have been diagnosed with glaucoma. Unfortunately as I have found, although most Specsavers are very helpful, some are not as clued up, especially when it comes to the DVLA test.
Hello. Until a number of years ago, a person who had a blood relative with glaucoma was entitled to a free NHS appointment every year. The rules then change to a free eye test every two years, so if you want to continue having an eye test every year, you will probably have to pay for one of them.
If a person has glaucoma and is seen regularly at the eye clinic there is no need for them to go to the opticians every year, unless the consultant or optometrist feels it is needed.
Specsavers comment regarding the optometrist defrauding is totally wrong. Your optometrist may have felt that due to your family history, you needed to have your eyes tested yearly, and they are in their right to do so.
OK as Trish says perhaps I was wrong you don't get a free annual test due to family history, only 2 yearly, but if you have been diagnosed with glaucoma i'm sure you get a free yearly test, I certainly have at Specsavers.
I always have free NHS eye test in my independent local opticians, my nearest Specsavers is about 30 miles in any one direction which means I have to ask someone else to take me because of other health problems I cannot drive that far or get public transport which is also a problem where I live and when you work it out Specsavers are just as expensive as my local opticians.
I have diagnosed glaucoma and now go to a hospital glaucoma clinic, for thorough glaucoma checks including a chart test. My Specsavers optician told me I could now only have nhs sight tests for glasses every 2 years as that was what the local health authority (Suffolk) would pay them for not annual tests. They did do an extra eye puff pressure test for me without charge, when I’d had very dry eyes in Winter and was concerned the eye pressures may have been affected (they weren’t) as my eyes felt different.
I was given 6 monthly free eye tests by my optician due to glaucoma no questions asked. Then at Specsavers only annual checks. I needed to see the optician between when acute dry eye syndrome caused me concern and they said I would have to pay. But the optician overruled that saying it was a follow-up appointment.
I can only tell you to avoid Specsavers - or ring round and get the perspective from other Specsavers. Unfotuately if ever the day comes you need a DVLA test, they have the sole contract and different stores use different machines, despot telling you that they are all uniform. I learned the hard way and had to fight to get my licence back after an appalling test at my local Specsavers, in conditions not laid down in the guidlelines.
I agree 100%. Specsavers didn’t pick up my glaucoma & I now have significant sight loss in one eye. They are just out to make money - being a chain it’s all about targets. I much prefer going to my small independent optician. I would avoid Specsavers like the plague! Just my opinion though 😊
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