LENS / OPTICIANS COSTS

[pauline collins]

I was diagnosed some 6 or 7 years ago with KC in both eyes, the left being the worst. In 2006 i used the forum to try & find a new opticain as my usual one left.......the replacement then left.......i tried the next chap who to be fair was very good ...he then left at the end of last year.... my vision has deteriorated again so i am now seeing another new optician....very frustrating...when i first spoke to him i asked him what his KC experience and knowledge was...this didn't go down very well, he got all stroppy with me and said that i shouldn't question him as he is a qualified optician...i did tell him i wasn't questioning his qualification just his experience of KC......it wasn't a good start.....lets face it when you see as many specialists as we do you want to ensure the person who is 'treating' you has a good awareness - not just a text book qualification. I left it a few months before arranging to see him...not sure if he remembered me.... as soon as i walked in he thought i was there for a standard lens check..but i soon put him right.....i am now today trialling my second new left lens........to date this has cost me £177.....this was just the opticians cost and doesn't include my time or petrol......i believe i need a new right lens, this will also cost me circa £150...... so £327 later i might be able to see well enough.......does anyone know if we are able to get some form of benefit / funding for KC....i am afraid that i have just taken it for granted that i always have to pay..........
Despite being diagnosed 7 years ago i have always just paid for my lenses. Does anyone know ?

I have located the list of opticians on this website and i am going to try and see Mr Avery at Specsavers in Peterborough as my current contact lens man doesn't fill me with confidence. Has anyone used or know about Mr Avery
Thanks

[Anne Klepacz]

Hi Pauline,
Anyone with a clinical need for contact lenses (which includes a lot of people with KC) is entitled to lenses at the NHS rate - currently around £51 per lens. That payment includes any changes in prescription in the next 12 months. But you can only get the NHS rate by going through a hospital eye clinic. To take advantage of this, you'd need to ask your GP to refer you to a hospital. If your local hospital has its own contact lens department, they would be able to fit you and provide you with lenses. Hospitals without a contact lens department can give you a prescription and a voucher to take to a local optician so that you'll just be charged the NHS rate.
So it's a lot cheaper this way - the downside is longer waiting times for appointments and longer waiting times for lenses to be ordered and provided.
Anne

[Andrew MacLean]

...

and it may be that the optometrist will not charge until you get a lens that fits and gives good vision!

All the best.

Andrew

[pauline collins]

THATS FANTASTIC, THANKYOU.........interesting as i was at the doctors surgery the other day as i suspected i had conjunctivitus..turns out it wasn't.... phew....but an irritation caused my new lens.......Before the GP looked at my eyes i asked him to be careful when he pulled my eyelid down as my lens may pop out as i had KC....he was very intrugued to know how it was diagnosed and asked me numerous questions about it.....i will now go back to him and ask for a referral.
Thanks again.
Pauline