Finding a good optician/ optometrist

[ElviraKate]

The optician that I've been going to for years and who first noticed the drusen were getting bigger, sending me to Moorfields, has retired. Catastrophe! Now we have to find another. Does anyone have any tips as to how to assess an optician or optometrist? Which magazine says that independents seem to be best, but how do you choose one? And is it an advantage if they have OCT machines? Reviews tend to concentrate on how much the glasses cost, not the expertise of the optician themself.

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Personally I'd prefer an optician who works in a large chain as I feel they'd be more likely to operate under scrutiny, have quality management systems etc., more layers of management who want to keep their jobs and so ensure standards are maintained as reputational damage would be bigger than just the optician dept. Of course the opposite argument could be made about tick in the box faceless management!

Minimum Professional standards apply regardless. I haven't ever checked further as one does with an ophthalmologist/eye surgeon.

Our optician is in Asda and he caught my problem early and did rapid referral to hospital for both of us so we stick with him and I'd be happy to give his replacement a try.

[Emelinep]

I always went to a small independent optometrist and indeed they found my initial problem & referred me to eye hospital immediately. However they have recently partnered with a larger group and have become incredibly expensive & pushy. The DVLA sent me to the famous large chain for driving assessment and I was very impressed maybe cause I passed, but will go there in future when the eye unit deems it appropriate.

[fed13]

Hello ElviraKate! My sympathies: this is a difficult one. Initially years ago I had a recommendation for an independent optician; like yours she was brilliant, but alas she retired. I stayed with her "firm", assuming the young woman who took over was OK too.

This proved not to be the case! There were many comments around town how bad she was. She missed diagnosing my wet AMD! Enough said.

I tried two big firms and am now with one of the best known ones. They have all the modern equipment you could dream of, which independent ones may not have.

My best advise is to shop around and listen to the grape vine. All the best. Tell us how you get on xx

[Chski]

All optometrists have the same basic registration standard, although many do further qualifications.

One such qualification is the "Professional Certificate in Medical Retina", which is a postgraduate level qualification, and deals extensively with macula degeneration and other medical retina conditions (diabetes, retinal vein occlusion).

I would ask about locally and try to find an optometrist with this qualification, as they will have a more detailed understanding of your eye condition.

[ElviraKate in reply to Chski]

Thank you very much, that sounds like an excellent tip. None of our local optician shops have a list of their optometrists, which I find very bad - you can look up your GP's surgery or your dentist and find out who they have working with them, but opticians are anonymous. I'll have to contact them individually and find out.

[Chski in reply to ElviraKate]

Try searching the general optical Council register by your postcode.

optical.org/en/utilities/on...

You are looking for Qualification: ProfCertMedRet

[ElviraKate in reply to Chski]

That was a brilliant idea, thank you hugely! Frustratingly, although there are a couple of Prof Cert Med Ret Dip people listed, they don't seem to belong to any particular practice. Otherwise it's all BSc MCOptom. However, I can now ask and see if I can find out where they practise now. Thank you again.