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. :)

[Feminine]

Thanks ina I'll probably end up going to the Optician first , as I'm going there with my son next Saturday...they booked her in to check.

But, I will go to the hospital too- when the appointment shows up.

I'm sorry about your situation though, that is a shame :(

[inabeautifulplace]

Hospital first. Based on my experience of hospital eye clinics and opticians, there will be a better range of testing available. Possibly that is due to my condition though. If it's the first proper check up, I'd want to take advantage of that despite the hassle. Hopefully all will be fine and you'll be able to revert to the optician.

In my case, I've got permanent damage due to a neglected referral. It's almost impossible that your DD will have the same condition as me so I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. Best to be sure though.

[mousmous]

opticians first. then they can refer if it is neccessary.

[Feminine]

Thanks. :-)

[KnappShappeyShipwright]

Feminine - I honestly can't remember. It wasn't that often, I don't think. I have a feeling we were prescribed a large box of patches and given instructions, then had 6 monthly appointments.

[Feminine]

I know what you mean nanny

since we came back to the UK DS has been under the care of an excellent local -ish optician.

Even in that short space of time they have been able to build a picture.

I suspect DD has a similar problem to DS, short sighted. :(

[Nanny0gg]

I have very short sight/astigmatism and so does one of my DC.

We have both been under the local optician for the last 25 years (since DC was 4, )

The thing with staying with the same optician (for me) is the consistency of care and the knowledge they build up about you and your eyesight. I personally don't like the Specsavers kind of setup where you never see the same person twice.

My optician has also been very prompt about referring for problems that need hospital attention (hole in retina, macular degeneration).

So I'd go to the optician.

[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?

[landrover]

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

[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!

[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]

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

[Feminine]

Thank you all btw :)

[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? :)

[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

[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!

[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.

[2rebecca]

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

[Bonsoir]

You must take up the hospital referral.

[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.

[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?

[Feminine]

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

< sigh >

[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).

[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.

[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 .