Boots opticians - covid overkill

[WeeM]

Went to make an appointment today as happened to be passing. They are still making people stand outside and have a barrier over the doorway. There was no one else in the store but the woman came over, took our details on a scrap bit of paper, went to the computer to check dates and then came back over to offer us a time. Is it just me or is this just total overkill now? I don’t think I’ve noticed anywhere else that is still doing this sort of thing. And not to mention customers details are floating about on bits of paper... I get they may want to limit numbers in the store still but the place was empty! I can’t wait to go back for the appointment to queue up outside

I still come across people who do a little dance on the pavement to try and keep to the two metre social distance stuff even to the point where some daft b*ggers jump out into the road as part of this ritual. It is going to take some time to get back to our old ways especially places like opticians where a positive case amongst the qualified staff will cost a lot in lost business

“ All the ‘vulnerable’ people on this thread - how do you cope with flu? Genuine question as that is what covid has mutated too. ”

Where have you been told it’s mutated like flu ? Genuine question also, as from what I’ve heard it’s very different to flu

My vets still aren’t letting people inside they take the animals off you in the car park.

Ours never stopped letting people inside.

[quote raspberrymuffin]@MrsPear in the case of me and at least one other person on this thread we are being as careful as we possibly can because our husbands have cancer, and I at least am doing my best to avoid flu as well. The other potter's husband is vulnerable due to chemo which means his immune system is significantly less able to fight covid even in a 'mild' form. My DH is having immunotherapy rather than chemo but it is given on the chemo ward alongside extremely vulnerable people, and so if he tests positive he will not be allowed in for his treatment regardless of whether he feels unwell.

Have a think for a moment about what it means to delay cancer treatment before you make any more snidey comments about anxiety. DH is 42 years old and has a good chance of making it through this if he keeps going with this treatment. I will avoid everything I can avoid but I need to be able to see to drive and I don't think it's out of order to ask people to be a bit more considerate in medical settings, to keep my lovely husband alive.[/quote]
I fear we are wasting our time.
We fight like he'll to get through surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy to be told we are overreacting to a cold.
I can put up with not being able to socialize,l work outside the home etc but we should be as safe as is possible during medical appointments

Specsavers are the same. Its bonkers.

I am wth you, op. I had covid badly enough to be in hospital for some weeks and have a few 'vulnerabilities', but it's over, it's just one of many, many bugs we need to live with. I think people are terrified and, in most cases, shouldn't be. I also think it suits some businesses and organisations to hang on to the theatre (and it is theatre, the only remedy is vaccination and keeping as well as possible) and to use it as an excuse for crap services. See especially the NHS!
We don't have a right to complete safety. If I get it again, well that's life. I have had four vaccines. Can't ask the world to stop for a handful of us!

@fiftiesmum

I still come across people who do a little dance on the pavement to try and keep to the two metre social distance stuff even to the point where some daft b*ggers jump out into the road as part of this ritual. It is going to take some time to get back to our old ways especially places like opticians where a positive case amongst the qualified staff will cost a lot in lost business

I still try to keep my distance, just because it's a really easy thing to do. plus I hate people it amazes me how many people are still wearing masks and yet stand so close to me they can smell my brand of fabric conditioner.

@TheKeatingFive

but I expect to be able to attend medical appointments in safety as far as possible

The idea that screens and sanitiser can guarantee you 'safety' is totally flawed

We all know nothing "guarantees" safety. But a few simple precautions REDUCE the risk. It's never going to be a binary Risky versus no risk, but there's one hell of a middle ground where the risks of catching covid are reduced, and if caught, the viral load can be reduced with pretty simple precautions.

I have become CEV since the pandemic started. I can

@beattieedny

I am wth you, op. I had covid badly enough to be in hospital for some weeks and have a few 'vulnerabilities', but it's over, it's just one of many, many bugs we need to live with. I think people are terrified and, in most cases, shouldn't be. I also think it suits some businesses and organisations to hang on to the theatre (and it is theatre, the only remedy is vaccination and keeping as well as possible) and to use it as an excuse for crap services. See especially the NHS! We don't have a right to complete safety. If I get it again, well that's life. I have had four vaccines. Can't ask the world to stop for a handful of us!

Where does especially the NHS come into it. Most GP's, dentists, opticians and pharmacies are private businesses with NHS contracts and will make their own rules (like Tesco and theatres) in conjunction with government rules and department of health guidance. NHS staff in hospitals have been dealing with covid and everything else over the last two years and for many treatments (particularly cancer) it has been business as usual - but with amendments despite staff being moved elsewhere or off sick due to covid exposure

@ReeseWitherfork

It does indeed seem like overkill when even GP surgeries are generally letting people walk in and book at a desk. I wonder when they intend to drop these protocols.

Our GP practice certainly doesn't let you do that. The outer door remains locked and you have to press the buzzer to be let in, then you are in a vestibule with the receptionist behind a glass screen. If you have an appointment, they then buzz you through the inner door into the waiting room. Plenty of signs on the outer door to say don't enter unless you have an appointment within 5 minutes.

Similar with our dentists who make you wait outside until you're within 10 minutes of your appointment time.

Our pharmacy is still insisting on the no more than 2 people at a time allowed into the shop.

Posted too soon

But a few simple precautions REDUCE the risk.

I'm not sure the evidence actually supports this with omicron. Certainly the countries that advocated these precautions didn't fare any better.

I very recently had an appointment at Boots opticians for eye test and to get new glasses. They were following the protocol OP describes. Their hygeine and safety procedures throughout, were impeccable. I was impressed and very grateful.

Some parts of the eye exams/inspections require the client and optometrist to be directly face to face at very close quarters , where the optometrist must have an unobstructed view direct into the eyes they examine ( no room for face visor). At the same time, I had to drop my mask to make proper contact with their equipment. Each seat and each piece of equipment was cleaned after it had been in contact with me.

Same time frame, I also visited my dentist . Health and temperature check obligatory on arrival, before I could drop the mask to be examined and treated. My dentist works from behind the patients seat so at no time did the dentists face come as close to mine as the optometrist had to. So, unlike the optometrist, the dentist could wear a full face visor to avoid the exchange of breath. He told me that it takes at least an hour to clean the room/ airspace after every patient (longer, if there's been any aerosol treatment) which reduces the number of appointments per day.

After spending almost an hour having my eyes examined and tested it was time to choose new frames. No limit to how many I tried on; but when I'd finished, the discarded ones all had to be cleaned before returning them to the display stands.

My hairdresser is still isolating all customers; just one in the salon at any time.

They are all doing their best  to protect themselves and their customers.  I just hope that the services I rely on,  will  survive the financial losses   forced on them by  very reduced client appointments.

@fiftiesmum

I still come across people who do a little dance on the pavement to try and keep to the two metre social distance stuff even to the point where some daft b*ggers jump out into the road as part of this ritual. It is going to take some time to get back to our old ways especially places like opticians where a positive case amongst the qualified staff will cost a lot in lost business

I just carry on walking now like I used to, if they want to jump into the road it's their choice. I'm certainly not stepping off the pavement to accommodate them!

Yabu- it’s a medical appointment.

@ReeseWitherfork

It does indeed seem like overkill when even GP surgeries are generally letting people walk in and book at a desk. I wonder when they intend to drop these protocols.

Our GP certainly does not. Nobody gets through the entrance door unless they have a booked appointment (phone or online). ( There's no problem getting a face to face appointment ) When you get inside you're directed immediately to the room where you'll be seen.

@TheWernethWife

Went to choose new frames from Specsavers, woman took my name and then gave me hand sanitiser, then handed me a plastic box saying that each frame I touched had to be put in this box and they would be taken away to be cleaned.

I asked why since I'd sanitised my hands in front of her but she didn't have an answer.

Because you tried the frames on your face, bridge of nose and ears, which had not been sanitised. To try on frames I was allowed to remove mask ; which meant the frames and lenses came close to my exhaled breath from nose and mouth.

At least you can go to the door OP. My dentist still has the doors locked.

I always used to pop in to make an appointment as they are in the town centre. You can't book online, either! The only way to make an appointment is to phone (or to make it when you are already in there for a previous appointment).

As for CEV people, when I last went for an eye test it was really busy in there. A few masks weren't going to prevent transmission. So a couple of extra people popping to make appointments wouldn't make a difference in my view, you stay near the door anyway.

In fact it is probably better to leave the doors open for ventilation.

If I had a DH or close relative undergoing chemotherapy I'd delay routine eye and dentist appointments for myself until the cycle was over.

And to the person criticising those who keep the distance on the pavements - all the joined at the hip couples annoyingly go out for walks at the same time as me so there's no room on the pavement for me anyway so I cross the road if it's safe.

Our local post office is, and has been throughout, absolutely ridiculous about covid restrictions

Doesn't surprise me. Post offices and pharmacies are the last bastion of Stalinism or maybe the first bastion of Putinism

not happy unless they are making people queue for ages

@WeeM It's because it's a healthcare practice and the restrictions are dictated by statutory regulations still.

Hence the plastic aprons!

It's not something most practices would be doing by choice at the moment.

@SexyLittleNosferatu

Because you'll have breathed all over them and tried them on maybe? The next person to try them on my be CEV

Have lots of people caught covid (or any other virus) from a pair of glasses?

Last week, over 8000 were so ill with covid they were admitted to hospital. 700 people died with covid.

Anybody who thinks " the pandemic is over", or "covid is just flu"
is sadly misinformed.

Imagine the absolute uproar if doctors surgeries was doing this! Bet most of the people commenting on here that they are in the right to take precautions are the same ones ripping into doctors surgeries for not seeing patients or having a doctor triage over the phone before offering an appointment, you know because surgeries generally have CEV, EVC, elderly & babys in so have to work out who will be in the surgery at certain times. (FYI my surgery and others in the area have been seeing patients throughout)

@Satsumaeater I think you may have misunderstood how cancer treatment works. It's not just 'a cycle' of chemotherapy for many. My DH had 5 weeks of chemoradiotherapy last autumn during which he was ECV. I was due a routine eye test and lens check up at this point but put it off thinking this would all be over by the spring. Anyway, we then had a few months of waiting to see if the tumour had shrunk enough to operate, and had to be extremely careful as we were told there is an optimum time to do the surgery and a positive covid test would lead to weeks of delay. Then we found out it had spread to his liver so he couldn't have surgery straight away. So now it's immunotherapy to try to keep the new liver stuff under control while we wait until the new optimum time for surgery. Again all this will stop with a positive test. If surgery 1 goes well there will then be another break, probably with chemo or immunotherapy, before surgery 2. We will be very lucky to have all this done by next autumn. In the meantime Specsavers will have refused to supply me with any more contact lenses without a routine check up so I'd be back to my out of date glasses and ricocheting off trees and lampposts while transporting DH to all these appointments in four different hospitals spread over 3 different cities. So I booked my eye test last weekend and was very grateful for the effort the opticians are putting in to reduce the risk of covid transmission. But no of course you're right, its outrageous that someone have to put a coat on while they wait for their appointment.