As a former Cathedral city and Royal Burgh, Elgin was once a popular holiday residence for medieval Scottish monarchs including David I, William I and Alexander II. Over hundreds of years, the Scottish town has experienced countless battles between Scottish and English armies, resulting in the eventual destruction of its cathedral and royal castle. Modern Elgin is a hub of old and new architecture with the few optical practices in the town reaping the benefits of a large catchment area.
‘Elgin is a largely rural town and not very heavily populated,’ says Specsavers retail director Peter Taylor. ‘It’s a pretty unique part of Scotland up here, it’s quite unknown and I think the residents want to preserve that nature. People assume because we’re so far north there’s polar bears or something, but we’re actually in one of the sunniest bits of Scotland which is surrounded by miles of amazing scenic beaches.’
The town’s high street, where the Specsavers store is located, is a constant buzz of activity. Taylor says: ‘We have a nice mixture of shops on the high street and we end up getting most of our booking through patients walking through the door rather than by ringing up the practice. I’ve worked in retail for over 20 years and I’ve never come across patients who like to chat like they do here.’
On an average week, the store sees 500+ patients, a considerably high proportion for a low population rate. ‘It does amaze people that we have seven practice rooms that we regularly fill. But there’s few other practices nearby and it’s about 25 miles either way for our patients so we’re kept very busy.’
There’s a remarkably strong awareness of eye care and the importance of eye health in the town, says Taylor. ‘The majority of patients come straight here rather than going to the GP. We serve as a starting point for eye conditions, on top of the usual jobs we usually recall about 30 or 40 eye conditions a week, anything from foreign body removal to cataract follow ups.’
Competitors Duncan and Todd also offer patients in the town an advanced eye care service. Branch manager Lisa Frankland (pictured left) says: ‘To go alongside the free sight test we offer in Scotland, we offer fundus photography, visual field checks and OCT. I think patients really value it, especially because of the way the NHS is currently going. Dr Greys hospital in Elgin doesn’t have an ophthalmology department which means if they cannot be seen in the practice, patients have to travel an hour-and-a-half to Aberdeen.’
Although the practice does not offer the lowest price in the town for its services, Frankland argues it has little impact on the business. ‘We are often surprised by how many people have visited from other multiples, people often bring in prescriptions from our competitors and it’s definitely a nice feeling when patients do that.’
Who’s in town?
Total: 4
Independents: 1
Multiples: 3
Average costs
Eye examination costs are covered by the Scottish government NHS budget. Stand-alone private eye exams are charged at the same rate as the NHS fee for their age group. Extra charges for enhanced services are available at costs decided by the service provider.
Population - see pie chart
Elgin population: 25,956 (ONS 2011)
Community eye care
NHS Grampian does not have any specific local contracts outside General Opthalmic Services.
Health and affluence
- The average house price in Elgin is £148,841 (Rightmove, 2017) compared with an average of £217,502 for England and Wales (Land Registry, 2017).
- NHS expenditure on vision problems in Moray per person is £81, compared with the UK average of £89 (RNIB Sight Loss Data Tool 2015).
- 680 patients live in Moray with late stage wet AMD and 330 with dry AMD (RNIB).
- About 1,060 people are living in Moray with cataract, 930 people with glaucoma and 6,280 with diabetes. Some 1,870 patients have diabetic retinopathy (RNIB).
Fun facts
In the 19th century Dr Alexander Gray, who made his fortune with the East India Company, endowed £26,000 for a hospital to be built which is still open today.
The Elgin–Forres–Lossiemouth triangle is heavily dependent on Royal Air Force stations for employment of civilians.
The government council area of Moray, where Elgin lies, produces more malt whisky than the rest of the world combined.
Elgin features on railway enthusiasts must see lists as the terminus for the longest continuous route in the UK.
Former Scottish international footballer and current Coventry City FC manager Steven Pressley, pictured, was born in Elgin