Specsavers only offering nhs glasses every 18 months?

[TepidFossil]

Hi
I've got two boys (13 and 12) who both wear glasses and have done since they were 3-4. Specsavers have always given us the NHS free pair every 12 months. They are now telling us that it is every 18 months, and if the child needs glasses sooner we will have to pay for a pair.

My sons are now not due their eye test until June but my elder son really needs a replacement pair as they are very ill-fitting. He has complex lenses so before I shell out what is going to be £200+ for a pair of glasses for him, I wanted to check with other people if they've been told similar about the change to every 18 months to be entitled to a NHS glasses voucher?

I can't seem to find anything about this change from 12 to 18 months online? I'm concerned this is just a cost saving exercise for our specsavers, so interested to hear if this is being done nationally? Any one else had this? Thanks!

actually I was just reading a thread on money-saving-forum, and lots of people said that they got reminder notices at one year, but they weren't eligible for an NHS test until 2 years (adults). It depends on what the recall date says, I think, rather than just the reminder notice.

the NHS test doesn't seem to cover the retina photos or the glaucoma screening, except those seem to be things that people who have eye problems often need. I suspect that might be a way of helping cover the cost as the nhs payment I don't think really covers the cost of the tests anyway. And I don't mind paying for that if it's needed.

Thanks everyone - really useful advice. I'm waiting for a call back from our usual opticians to discuss further, having taken what a few people said here. And then I'll phone around and see what other opticians offer. If not, will just pay for them.

Did they say it was 18 months, or did they say it was June?

I took my kids to Specsavers for eye tests, and they told me that one wasn't entitled yet, it was too soon. Oddly, it was the one that didn't need glasses, and he definitely hadn't had his eyes tested at the date they said he had.

It took multiple phone calls, including one where the person on the end of the phone said 'it's not my problem' and then hung up on me. When I phoned back I was immediately put through to a supervisor, who said that if I was to swear again, they would refuse to deal with me. I asked if the calls were recorded, because if they listened back they would see that I hadn't sworn at anyone. I admitted to being frustrated, and that I had raised my voice at the person being unhelpful and had told me it wasn't her problem - which the supervisor admitted she had heard, and that they were going to speak to her about.

Anyway, they finally admitted that they had managed to combine my sons record with another child's.

I guess it might be something like that?

My DS has glasses with Specsavers. At his last check his prescription had not changed and he was happy enough with his frames so we didn't get new ones. Up to this point he had tests every 12 m and his prescription changed every year, and we got NhS voucher.

4 months after his last test, glasses broke. We took them in to get fixed and decided we'd get another pair for backup, thinking we could use the voucher we hadn't used at his check. Specsavers told me, and i checked on NHS to confirm, that now they only get a voucher if prescription changes so had to pay full price. No mention of a 18m period, so not sure what happens when DS inevitably outgrows his frames with no prescription changes.

A couple of years ago our specsavers stopped doing two pairs for kids and so DD was only allowed to have one pair. My youngest DS now goes to Costco because I couldn't get him an appointment at specsavers and he needed to be seen. That said, he's now in contacts (also Costco) but we got him cheap frames from Specsavers as Costco only had kids and men's glasses and he needed an in-between size. Good luck OP, it sounds like it varies between branches.

We have had this before - due to the date of recall entered by the optician at the previous visit. I have always rebooked as normal and if they query stated child thinks their vision has changed.