Optician or hospital for DD? after school examination?

[Feminine]

DD is five. Yesterday she had her eyes tested at school, the result was that she is slightly weak in both eyes.

I think that is to be expected as one of her brothers has quite a strong prescription.

The paperwork said we'd need to attend a hospital appointment for a more detailed check-up.

I phoned the hospital and requested that I'll take it from here, as my son is due a check -up and will get DD under their care.

The lady said that wasn't advised as they (the hospital) can do a better job!

It is miles from us (rural) and I don't have a car during the week.

AIBU to think an excellent( more local) optician will be able to deal with my daughter just as well?

She is able to tell numbers/colours etc...all that is needed (at this stage) for a diagnosis apparently. :)

[AuntieStella]

Where are you with eye tests carried out in school? Or is it another thing that varies between HAs?

If in UK (I think all parts the same) then your DD can have annual eye tests on the NHS, so you can go ahead and get her onto the same practice as your DS. And do that irrespective of anything at a hospital.

But as hospital referral is not the norm (I would have expected 'needs to see an optometrist' if it was just a case of "likely to need glasses") then I would want to be very sure if what investigations the hospital proposes to carry out before declining them.

[Feminine]

I'm in Dorset.

I'm worried now.

It is the standard testing they do for all 5 year old children.

[Catsmamma]

A high street opticians should definitely refer you back to the hospital if they felt there was anything out of the ordinary with dd's eyes, so I'd probably do the same as you tbh.

[Nennypops]

Can you get in touch with whoever did the school testing and asked why they went for the hospital referral rather than advising you to go to an optician?

[AuntieStella]

Sorry, didn't mean to worry you.

Can you find out more about why it was specifically a hospital referral?

[itiswhatitiswhatitis]

IME the testing at hospital is very different to what's done at an opticians for children. If you have been advised to go for a hospital appointment then I think you should do so.

[Indith]

Around here it is pretty normal for children to be referred to hospital. Hospital can then decide if they need to keep them under their care or send them back to optician. It isn't anything at all to worry about, just about making sure that nothing is missed.

Ds1 was sent to hospital after the school screening. Nothing too serious, had some patching for a while plus strong prescription. He is still under their care 2 years later.

[Feminine]

I think it is a hospital appointment as it is standard NHS testing at this point. I think it is for the eye clinic :)

It is just one of the options on the paperwork.

The person that took the test pencilled in slightly in the section where it talked about weakness in the eyes.

Ie: Both/just one .

[McPie]

My kids had their eyes tested in nursery at 4 for starting school, it's great to catch any issues early when they are less self conscious. My niece is 14 and will probably need glasses and is bricking herself about other peoples reactions to her getting them now.
I would go see your local optician and see what they think, they will refer you if there is any need to.

[LizzieMint]

I've done both, my youngest is under hospital care, my oldest under optician. Hospital is where I'd expect a young one to go, to be honest, sometimes they have to give drops to get a good result and while it can be done at an optician, they seem to be a bit more geared up for it at the hosp (IME).

[Feminine]

This is one of the problems with being rural ... the hospital over an hour away...with one car!

< sigh >

[Feminine]

I'm not surprised really ( because DS has worn them since 10) he is 15 now. I think his prescription is a 4 something?

He is getting contacts soon.

Maybe they would have sent him if we'd been in the UK then.

Does weakness in the eyes just mean she will need glasses? or anything else?

[2rebecca]

Orthoptists in hospital tend to do advice on patching and assessment of young kids and have special 3D images for them to grasp at to assess binocular vision etc. They will tell you if an optician can deal with future visits. If she just has a mild refractive error in both eyes an optician should be able to deal with it though, if they said it was just 1 eye then I'd definitely go for the orthoptist initially but if its both then a local optician should be able to deal with it if she's co-operative. Orthoptists are better with wriggly little kids that don't concentrate well.
Opticians usually err on the side of caution so I don't see any harm in optician initially. I suspect the school protocol just has "eye problems refer orthoptist" and doesn't consider opticians, distance to hospital etc.

[Bonsoir]

You must take up the hospital referral.

[2rebecca]

"weakness" is a nonmedical term that means nothing in this context apart from her eyes not meeting the spec.

[noblegiraffe]

My DS needed a follow up after his school eye test too, we were told to make an appointment with an optician. There were two options on the form, optician referral and hospital referral. So if they have told you to go to the hospital, then I think you need to do that.

[KnappShappeyShipwright]

We were referred to the hospital for DS after his yrR sight test - we saw an orthoptist rather than a high street optician until he was 7. He has a lazy eye and needed patching plus glasses, the orthoptist is simply more specialised with dealing with children with this sort of sight issue than an optometrist. The orthoptist issues prescriptions that can be dispensed by any optician and because it's a hospital prescription we got two pairs automatically rather than just one. Nothing scary, and it was done at our local hospital. We were discharged from the hospital once he was 8 as they had done all the remedial work possible with patching etc and get tested every year at the opticians.

We were also extremely rural at that time with zero public transport, I feel your pain!

[Normalisavariantofcrazy]

If it's any consolation they do the same for hearing tests too. They can choose to keep them in the community team or refer to the hospital who then decide to manage in the community...

It's just another convoluted NHS process

[Feminine]

There was only one option.

It is probably how they deal with things round here.

It was either they met requirements or didn't

knapp out of interest, how many times a year did you have to attend the hospital? :)

[Feminine]

Thank you all btw :)

[landrover]

Hospital definitely, they will sort out what needs to be done, and provide you with script for your local optician, we had to go back initially about every 3 months for a year or so then gradually longer between appointments. It is really important though, the optician would prob refer you anyway, pretty much standard! Maybe you can make a day out of it? Good luck xx

[LizzieMint]

I know you didn't ask me, but my little one goes to the hospital every 3 months. Their eyes change so fast when they are young, she's had three pairs of glasses within a year.

[landrover]

My daughters problem was also picked up at school, I am so grateful, she couldn't actually see out of one eye! We needed to patch to bring it back into line, thank god it was sorted or she would have had a lazy eye!

[landrover]

Its also quite exciting for them when they are little, picking out the barbie glasses etc!

[Feminine]

Thank you landrover I will take the appointment, but as my eldest is under the care of the optician I wanted to take her also.

Like you say, the optician will probably refer us anyway :)

I must admit to feeling a bit scared. Don't know why really?