Call for eye problems to be dealt with locally

Buy photos » Peter Bainbridge checks out the eye health of Redditch MP Karen Lumley. Picture by Ian Dipple.

MORE eye problems could be dealt with by high street opticians in future as part of efforts to ease pressure on hospitals.

Peter Bainbridge, chairman of the local optometric committee, said despite the fact opticians were qualified to deal with more than just routine sight tests, because there was no payment agreement with the NHS, residents with other eye conditions were being sent to hospital when they could be treated locally.

A scheme already exists elsewhere in the county which allows opticians to deal with routine eye conditions but for historical reasons has never operated in Redditch and Bromsgrove.

Now Mr Bainbridge, who runs Bainbridge Optometrists in the Kingfisher Shopping Centre, is pushing for the idea to be extended and has won the backing of Redditch's MP Karen Lumley.

Mr Bainbridge said: "Most people who end up in a hospital eye department have probably started in an optical practice. The things optical practices can do are greater than what we are allowed to do and we could save the NHS money. Relatively simple eye problems we are perfectly capable and qualified to deal with but we are not paid to do.

"We could take pressure off eye departments."

Mrs Lumley said the current review of Worcestershire's health services represented an opportunity to change the system and she would be pursuing the idea with the local GP commissioning group and Health Secretary Andrew Lansley.

"I'm in favour of anything that will benefit Redditch residents and if we can make life easier for them so they can come into the town centre rather than having to travel to Kidderminster or Worcester, where transport links are pretty dire, then it is an opportunity we should be grasping."

During Mrs Lumley's visit last Friday (February 3) she also heard about the importance of regular eye tests and the fact more people were putting off sight tests due to the cost. About 80 per cent of all eye tests in the UK are paid for by the NHS and are free to those aged 60 and over, children under-16 and those on low incomes.