Yes, we do eye tests!

Yes, our prices are reasonable!

One of the disadvantages of having a pretty cool looking store is that people can get the idea we might just sell specs and not do eye tests. Maybe our relaxed dress code plays into that too – but, wearing shorts during this lovely summer has been great. Boots put their optometrists in awful white smocks to make them seem more clinical. I reckon giving the clinicians a bit longer to do their eye tests would have been a better move.

Someone yesterday said they’d come back to get their specs after going to Specsavers for an eye test. We had a conversation about their experience last time – waiting – passing form person to person – upselling etc. And, then discussed how we try to do it – 1 hour apart, up-front pricing – personalised. We also pointed out that most opticians doing 20+ eye tests a day are not too cheerful either – it is stressful!

With regard to pricing, we are reasonable. You can get cheaper, but seldom does the price advertised elsewhere end up being the final price. Knowing the price at the start, not the end is a good principle we like to stick to. Also, not having the horrible global designer brands means better value for money. You can get a lot more expensive than us, both at multiples and independents. We try to sit in the middle.

We should have an A-board soon – made in Sheffield from reclaimed wood and it will say we do eye tests.

“Come on ref didn’t you see that, are you blind?”. The introduction of VAR at the World Cup means referees get a second chance on some decisions now. When they go and look in that little monitor cubicle there should not be a vision issue, just interpretation differences. But, why don’t they wear glasses. Well, one can presume they are wearing contact lenses, have had LASER surgery or really can’t see what is going on!

I test the eyes of lots of people who wear specs for everything expect sport. In fact, I play football with some who do this and you know what – they are very slow to spot a pass. However, like any good long-standing men’s 5-aside most don’t know my job and I don’t know what they do and that is the way we like it.

I wear contact lenses for sport (expect swimming – got prescription goggles for that) and love them but feel no need to wear them during the day or going out. Daily lenses make this affordable and convenient and we don’t force you on to some direct debit scheme – pay as you use.

Always loved the refereeing in Kes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9nDHupVqVw

"Is privatisation of the NHS inevitable and what would be its impact?"
To me privatisation means NHS services that do not meet the need of everyone, are not free at the point of delivery and are not based on clinical need, rather on the ability to pay. This is how public eyecare in England has been delivered since Conservative government privatisation in 1989.
So, for us it has already happened the question becomes, what has been the impact?

In blunt terms more people are suffering preventable sight loss and/or struggling daily with poor vision due to the lack of appropriate visual correction. 
The privatised model puts people off getting eye tests, even those who won’t necessarily have to pay. For example, only 23% of eligible (for NHS funded tests) 0-15 year olds have eye tests and only 60% of over 60s. The over 60s figure was much lower after the 1989 changes when they did have to pay for tests, prompting the Labour government in 1999 to make them free again.

As a practitioner this means I come across people who’ve avoided eye tests and the health screening they include for years by buying “pound shop readers”.  The unlucky ones have irreversible damage to their eyes due to glaucoma, the lucky ones just need some “proper” specs. I also see children who will suffer lifelong impacts, such as not being able to drive, as they did not get the correction they needed in the critical visual development period up to the age of around 7.

So, the privatised model does not deliver for England’s public health (it’s a bit different in Scotland and Wales) and reinforces health inequalities – people in more deprived areas are more deterred by cost and there is a lack of opticians in poorer areas.
The fees that opticians are paid for NHS services have massively reduced in real terms since 1989 too – this could count as a saving to the tax payer. However, this means the equipment and professional costs of carrying out eye tests must be cross-subsidised by spectacle sales.

This means pressure to make sales, up-sell and the temptation for unscrupulous practitioners to test too many people too quickly – all things that contribute to people not accessing eye tests. The alternative is to avoid all NHS work.