Letter of the Month: There has to be a better way

I have been a practising optometrist since 1992 and am currently director at Specsavers in Bridport. For those of you who have not heard of, or been to Bridport, we are in Dorset on the south coast between Lyme Regis and Dorchester.  

Most importantly, we are about eight miles from the Dorset/Devon border, about nine miles from the Dorset/Somerset border, and a significant distance from the nearest hospital eye department. 

Our local eye department, Dorset County Hospital (DCH), is 21 miles away and about 25 minutes by car. Routine referrals are via a letter to the GP. There is no electronic referral system for routine referrals. DCH does not have an open access eye casualty department but does run a very efficient email triage service. However, this is not seven days a week.