My journey with Specsavers and the DVLA after declaring glaucoma

[Crunchielady]

I went through the whole process of reporting my glaucoma to the DVLA recently and got a lot of helpful advice from this forum so I wanted to share my experience as I was very stressed and anxious.I have glaucoma in both eyes, significantly worse in the right eye and my consultant keeps warning me I will need an op at some point. My vft that I do at the hospital are not good in my right eye.

In advance of notifying the DVLA I worked out which were the nearest DVLA Specsavers branches to me and I contacted 2 of them to find out which machines they had and whether I could do any practice tests. The branch in Didcot agreed if I booked an eye test I could also do a DVLA practice vft. I am 60 so the eye test was free as I hadn't had one for 2 years. I chose the vft machine closest in use to the one I use at the hospital so the Zeiss Humphrey. With this machine you stare at the bright light in the centre which doesn't move and you press the clicker when you see a flashing light. This is identical to the machine I use at the hospital except there I do each eye individually. There are other machines ie the henson 9000 where the light you are staring at moves around and the machine makes beeping noises to try and throw you off guard. Choose the machine you want carefully!

I had a perfect score on this practice test with 1 false positive so this helped calm my nerves significantly. The Specsavers staff were brilliant. I was told I couldnt wear any glasses for the test, as I don't need glasses to drive only for reading. (-2.75)I was a bit concerned as to whether I would be able to focus on the central light but it was fine. At the hospital they put corrective reading lenses into the machine as a matter of course.

I reported my glaucoma to the DVLA on 18th Feb 2025 and received a letter from them on the 29th . I booked my vft test at Specsavers on 4th March. On the day I did the vft first, on the first go I missed one light and got 2 false positives, the Specsavers lady then offered my a chance to have another go with my glasses on this was a bit of a surprise so I decided to try it. The results weren't good the frames of the glasses obscured a lot of the lights on the outer edges of both eyes. To be honest I don't think my glasses made looking at the central light any clearer so didn't help, I would advise you not to use reading glasses unless they are frameless.

After the vft I saw the optician who did a simple eye test she told me there and then that I had nothing to worry about I had 20/20 vision and my vft was good. She told me that I might have to wait some time for a response from the DVLA.

On the 27th March just over 3 weeks later I received a letter from the DVLA saying I was being offered a 3 year medical licence.

On reading the letter I was disappointed not to be offered 5 years based on a near perfect vft so I decided to ring them up and ask why and whether it was to do with my age. I phoned the DVLA and on the ivr chose the option to chase my submission. After a 15 mins wait the lady was very helpful and put me on hold whilst she spoke to the medical team she then came back and apologised and said I should have been sent 5 yrs and that they would change it. I couldn't believe how easy it was. I now have to return my letter stating 3 yrs

and they have altered it on their computer so it will be issued as 5 so fingers crossed this all goes to plan.

I hope this account of my experience helps someone else it was much quicker than I expected but still very stressful as no one wants to lose their licence, but be prepared do a practice test and think about which machine you want.

Happy to answer any further questions from anyone.

[Karajade]

I too have my DVLA tests at Specsavers in Didcot - 3 times now. My eyesight has deteriorated in this time but have had my licence renewed for 3 years each time (due to my age). I have always had a positive experience at this branch. They are also my regular opticians and they have always gone the extra mile in being helpful and supportive with problems I have experienced.

[Crunchielady]

I forgot to add I also asked for a printout of my test.

[JoanyVG]

A very helpful insight into the journey with Specsavers and the DVLA when you have glaucoma. Thank you - explains it well. Yours seems to have been a positive experience - wish I could say the same! This would have helped if I had seen it prior to starting the process. Knowing what to expect is half the battle.

[Sorshup]

Interesting account, thank you. Particularly about your exchange with DVLA and the almoat casual way their ruling was amended ! My experience early in Covid was my fail ing the Esterman, being told I could not longer drive and then three days later receiving a 3 year licence! I wrote back and was told "forget the banning letter" ! However, I did ceae driving .

I would just add that there continues to be confusion over what specs to wear. You should get the best result from using a close work focus, as is the setting at hospital.

[Shinal_GlaucomaUK Administrator]

Hello, thank you for sharing this experience. It is helpful to anyone who has an upcoming DVLA visual fields test. Best wishes

[SligoPort]

Thank you for sharing and excellent news! I just received a letter to say 5 years after my first DVLA test. The only difference is that Specsavers wouldn’t tell me if I had done ok on the tests and said I had to do the VF three times as standard. I kept thinking it was because they were trying to get a better result.

[Crunchielady]

Another update I had a call from the DVLA yesterday 11th April to ask if I had returned my letter ( it went first class signed for on the 7th). She said it's probably in the scanning pile. I was asked if I accepted the 3yr licence so I explained I had challenged it and been offered 5. She called me back after checking and confirms 5 yr and said she would issue it straight away and to expect it within 2 weeks. Looks like the DVLA have improved there processing times and become more efficient.