I was interested to see Chris Hunt’s reply to the article by Moneo. For the last year my records have been reviewed several times by the NHS along with their optometric adviser.
We have been advised among other points that we must apply very strict NHS sight testing intervals, less frequent than are published on the NHS public website, or the GOS sight test intervals published by the Optical Confederation.
In particular, we are advised that we can no longer see the over-70s more often than every two years unless there are symptoms that suggest that there may be a change in refraction. We cannot see them for instance because it is a good idea because they have large soft drusen or VMT for example, annually, even though an over-70 year-old with a family history of glaucoma or someone ‘at risk’ of glaucoma can be legitimately seen every year.
Also if a patient requests to pay for a private eye exam every other year as they realise that it is in their best ocular health interests to do so, they then forfeit the right to have a health service exam the following year. Three miles away in an adjacent health district these strict interpretations are not imposed.
From Chris’ reply it might seem that the strict interpretation we are being given is a bit over-zealous?
Different health area teams are interpreting things quite differently to each other. Patients are not surprisingly confused and suspicious of these non-uniform practices.
Is it not time this ‘post-code lottery’ is ended and advice standardised for all concerned? What does everyone, including our professional bodies, think?
Andrew Matheson
Alresford, Hants