Help available if you’re worried about virus related sight issues
After Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his chief aide Dominic Cummings claimed having coronavirus affected their eyesight, many people may be keen to get their own eyes checked after recovering from the virus.
Lockdown restrictions in England are slowly beginning to ease, with the country set to move into Phase 2 next week and many nonessential shops are being allowed to reopen.
But does this include opticians?
Opticians ceased running routine appointments when the UK entered into lockdown.
An NHS England notice dated April 1, explaining the changes to optometry services delivered outside hospital, said: “all routine optical services are suspended until advised otherwise.”
Although the government has not yet set a date for when opticians will be able to open for routine appointments, those who need access to urgent and essential eye care are still able to get help.
Urgent and essential eye care is being delivered from a limited number of optical practices only. You can check with your local optician or branch.
This includes, but is not limited to, appointments for patients who would not normally be considered to be emergencies, but where a delay in an examination could be detrimental to a patient’s sight or wellbeing.
This could include situations where patients have broken or lost their glasses or contact lenses and need a replacement pair to function.
Emergency eye care is when urgent clinical advice or intervention is needed, for example for red eye, contact lens discomfort, foreign objects, sudden change in vision, flashes and floaters, or where the patient has been advised to attend a practice by NHS 111 or another healthcare professional.
Specsavers has suspended all routine eye appointments but chief executive John Perkins said: “We will though still remain open to support people in the communities we work in if they need urgent or essential care.”
However, not all stores are open during this time and some Specsavers stores have changed their normal working hours.
Vision Express, Asda Opticians and Boots Opticians have also remained open for urgent and emergency appointments. Call your local branch if you have a problem.