To think the NHS eyesight voucher should cover the cost of the child's glasses?

[N0numbers]

My dd needs a new pair of glasses as her prescription has changed.

We chose a "free" pair of frames and lenses with the NHS voucher, but because of her prescription I had to pay an additional £150 to get the right lenses.

Well it was the choice between food on the table or the glasses, unfortunately she won't be seeing the food we are eating!

I feel like the worse mother in the world right now at not being able to provide the glasses.

AIBU to think it should be possible to get free glasses on the NHS for children or is this a luxury and in these days of austerity i should be paying for glasses?

I will be saving up to get the new glasses but suspect it will be another month before she gets the. So she will get them eventually.

My DD got a pair completely free at Vision Express. Even the paid for frames were only £20 top up. We got a deal where if we paid £20 for first pair second pair was free. That works well as means she can leave one pair at school. The free glasses a very pretty too and they will give you free repairs.

Boots could never provide my DCs with glasses within in the voucher value..
Now go to Specsavers and never have a problem.

DS2's glasses have always come from Specsavers. I haven't ever paid any extra but they haven't needed to be thinned down. I'd pop along there if I were you.

NOnumbers - I agree with you totally. I have the same problem with dd. Her prescription is -10 and she NEEDS her glasses thinned. This isn't really a cosmetic thing although they would look awful not thinned, but mainly they would be so heavy they would keep slipping and rub her nose. And stick out wider than the frame and not fit in properly.

Shopping around as such won't help - they all charge for thinning. Only thing I've found is when Specsavers are doing 2for1 go in and negotiate. Say you don't want a free second pair but you'd like money off the thinning. I normally get the thinning for about half price.

If Asda do do them for free please let me know. Our Asda don't have an optician so I haven't tried them but I'd travel to one that did!

DD's last glasses at Specsavers cost me well over £100 though and that was with thinning half price. She has to have the most expensive band of thinning. I think her frames were £25 over the voucher which I know is choice.

She's also got astigmatism and can't have contacts.

Ds has his glasses thinned for free because he wouldn't tolerate wearing heavier glasses. It's written on his prescription as is the fact they must be unbreakable.

Shop around OP. I have always worked for independent opticians and we would have had to charge extra for hi index lenses but multiples can offer better discounts.

Boots have always been the dearest ones. Specsavers or Asda opticians would be your best bet.

Is she plus or minus prescription OP? A decent dispensing optician would be able to achieve thinner standard lenses just by choosing the right size and shape frame.

Good luck OP

If her vision is that bad, are you sure she doesn't qualify for a higher rate voucher?

Something isn't right here. It's been a while since I've dealt with vouchers for children's glasses, but the idea of having to pay a £150 top up is just madness.

Did you ask if there's a way of making it cheaper? I know you can usually get three different "levels" of thinning (I have a high astigmatism myself and need thinner lenses) so go for the middle option rather than the very thinnest? Better to have the correct lenses, albeit thicker and heavier than you'd like, rather than none at all.

Do shop around. I was once told by Specsavers that I had to pay to have my lenses thinned or they'd be 'too heavy'. Not for the frame, just for my delicate face.

I knew they didn't need to be and told them not to be daft and they dropped it.

Don't forget they're in business and trying to make a profit (which I presume they won't with just the NHS voucher).

Good luck!

www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcosts/Pages/nhs-voucher-values.aspx

These are the voucher values, is she a voucher B which is £58.70?

There are different levels of thinning, there is 1.6, 1.67 and 1.74. With 1.74 being the thinnest and most expensive.

Specsavers last time I went did 4 levels of thinning. I have never been able to get a decent answer from them about the difference in weight/thickness between the different bands. Just get the "it depends on the frame but your dd's prescription is very strong so pay the most you can".

Like you say they are selling a product and I'm not sure I trust them! But I worry if I pay a cheaper band and the glasses are too heavy they will have been a waste of money as I'd have to buy another pair.

We've always had free glasses for DD and DS at Specsavers. DD got some Converse ones last week, we had to contribute £14 towards the frames but we could have chosen two free pairs.

I think specsavers may do a 1.7 as well which may explain the four types.

They are right though, it does depend on the frame and the size especially.

The best advice I would say is choose a frame size as close to you own pupil diameter as possible. (this is the distance between your pupils)

The size should be on the bridge or side of the frame. So for example if it says 50x18 add them together which is 68, so if your pd is only 62 they will have to use more lens when they cut them from a blank which will make a thicker lens. So try and choose a smaller frame.

Plastic frames are marvellous for thicker lenses and trendy at the moment as well.

**should have said pupil distance not diameter

DD has plastic frames but is into geek chic so massive frames. So the dispensers pull a bit of a face. I guess such a big surface area will just exaggerate the weight of thick lenses.

I'm luck that I don't have to make a choice between food and glasses. But it isn't fair on kids where families may have to make that choice. Or tell them you can't have the style you want....having to wear glasses is a big thing for a teenager.

Im in the US and always got my glasses at Costco before I had lasik. My set of glasses cost $49 for the frame and $40 for the ultra thin lenses. I got 4 pairs because my son kept ripping them from my face. They were great in there and made sure they fit me properly even though I hadn't had my eyes tested in the store.

I audited a glasses company and they sold to costco. My glasses that cost $49 had been sold for 5c a pair. I was just shocked at the mark ups. At the full price opticians about 40% of the cost is licensing cost. Walmart buys direct and in bulk so will have really cheap frames. Another option is to go online and look there. You might find the frames your DD liked for a couple of GBPs and then take the frames in to have lenses put in. DH does that with costco as he can never find anything he likes in their store.

There will be someone with a costco membership you can borrow! I would lend you mine but I am 3000 miles away.

They are taking the piss! What's the prescription and I can tell you the best lenses to get

Specsavers had an offer last week, kids glasses plus a free pair, and half price over £69 for a parent pair.

The mark up on lenses and is quite large. Essentially you are paying for the optician.

If prices get much cheaper and start to match online prices the price of a private examination will increase dramatically.

I always pay for the thinnest lenses from specsavers, ~ 90 extra or so on top of the frames. I needed a second spare and tried asda - my prescription meant I qualified for the thinnest lenses, it cost me £40. I was so impressed I've ordered another pair and I'm unlikely to buy from specsavers again.

I have spoken to Asda on the phone and yes with our prescription the frames, lens plus thinning will all be free.

I've made the appointment for tomorrow.

I will report back if it's really free but fingers crossed it's sounding good at the moment.

Hooray!

Sounds promising

This happened to me, I went to a "proper" optician and by the time she had chosen the glasses she wanted she explained that they weren't covered by the voucher and the lenses would have to be thinned, £100 bloody quid. I was fuming. I have read this thread with interest. I went to that optician because it was recommened to me by the hospital.

Both of my boys can choose freely from the kids' an teens ranges in Specsavers and get a complete pair of glasses, in theory.

In practice, DS1 finds most of the teen styles too tight, but the adult ones, which are also covered up to a certain price point, still swamp him (they'll probably fit hi, next year). We paid a top up for some of the "designer" frames, this time around as they were a better fit on him.

DS2 is very longsighted and his glasses were very heavy, with lenses like pebbles, and were causing him pain. He's entitled to 2 pairs on prescription, wherever he gets them from, but we had to pay for the second level of thinning for him in both pairs (we didn't bother in either of the second pairs that SS had on offer at the time, so they're still heavy). It's paid off though in not constantly taking his glasses off and losing or breaking them because he's not in constant discomfort.

We're lucky we can afford that, though. I'm not sure what we'd do if we couldn't either afford the initial outlay or for repairs, as the upgraded lenses aren't covered for free repairs like the basic ones.