Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Frank eyes starring role
JUDITH TONNER
A Co a t b r i d g e optometrist is featuring in a series of NHS Lanarkshire films promoting the community health experts available to provide support.
Frank Munro is in a short film showcasing how the health board area’s 89 community opticians can help people get the health advice and care they need without having to wait to see a GP or queueing at an emergency department.
He said: “Your local optometrist is the best person to deal with any eye complaint. They have the specialist training and equipment to assess all eye conditions.
“These include urgent eye problems, emergencies, injuries and sore eyes, and to check for eye disorders or disturbances to vision.”
Frank is shown at his Munro Optometri s t s premises on Main Street, with the film highlighting opticians’ professional training and specialist equipment, and the local experts’ membership of the Lanarkshire Eye Network Scheme (LENS).
It notes that its members “have a direct link to opthamology where they call for advice regarding treatment and discuss whether or not a patient needs to be referred to the eye acute referral clinic”.
An optician for 37 years, Frank is among several stars of the series of films alongside a dent i s t , physiotherapist and nurse at a minor injuries clinic. The other information focuses on community pharmacies and self-care, with details of services such as NHS Inform and NHS24.
John Keaney, NHS Lanarkshire’s divisional medical director for acute services, said: “If people take advantage of the expert help on their doorstep, then accident and emergency departments can be kept free to treat patients facing serious health problems.
“We’re urging people to stop and think before they go to A&E – there are lots of other qualified experts who can safely and quickly advise people on many conditions.”
The advice comes after NHS Lanarkshire last month urged people to “stop and think” before heading to emergency departments to ease pressure, after nearly 24,000 people attended the three across Lanarkshire in the five weeks from the start of December. Monklands Hospital saw 5890 patients arrive at its A& E during December and there were a combined total of 17,625 across Lanarkshire, leading the health board to declare this winter so far to be one of the busiest in recent years with “enormous strain on services which are already under pressure”.
Residents are encouraged to seek information at www. nhsinform. scot ; ensure home medicine cabinets are stocked with the basics; and to speak to a community expert such as an optician or pharmacist for nonemergency situations such as minor ailments and infections.
Appointments can be made with GPs if the illness doesn’t go away, including for phone consultations and fast-track referrals and NHS 24 can be contacted on 111 for urgent support.