Spectacles & NHS Examinations
Our qualified dispensing opticians are highly trained and can assess your individual requirements, happily taking time to explaining the many options available and advise on the most suitable lens option.
We carry a huge selection of frames in stock with all styles and budgets catered for including the major fashion brands, Tom Ford, Emporio Armani, Prada and Calvin Klein and some less well known exclusive brands like IC Berlin Gotti and Alek Paul.
Lens technology has advanced by leaps and bounds in recent years which means lenses can be thinner and lighter for all prescriptions, providing greater comfort and better appearance.
Lenses can be offered with various options including anti-reflection; scratch resistant;
photochromic (dark & light) ; polarised and tints.
NHS Examinations
You are entitled to free eye examinations if you fall into one of these categories:
Over 60 years of age
Under 16 years of age
Student under 19 years of age and in full time education
Diabetic
Over 40 years of age and whose mother / father / sister / brother / child has Glaucoma
Have Glaucoma
You or your partner are receiving income support or family credit
Have a current AG2 or AG3 exemption certificate
Need a complex prescriptions (as defined by the NHS)
Registered blind or partially sighted
What should be in a standard private or NHS sight test?
The optometrist will:
• ask you about any problems you may have with your eyes
• ask you about your general health
• ask you about any family history of eye problems
• take details of any previous prescription, if available
• ask you to read letters on a chart, with and without lenses
• look at the inside and outside of your eye with a bright light
• check whether you need spectacles and issue a prescription, if appropriate
• make and keep notes about all these points
• discuss the result with you
• write to your doctor if there is a problem.
The optometrist may also:
• check the pressure in your eyes
• check your peripheral (side) vision.
The optometrist might put drops in your eyes to enlarge your pupils, which can help him or her to see the back of your eyes better.
What is not in an NHS sight test?
An NHS test does not cover:
• checking your contact lenses
• testing your colour vision for a job
• writing reports for a job application
• issuing VDU reports for your employer
• dealing with eye emergencies such as infections or grit in the eye
• treating dry eyes
• taking photographs of the inside or outside of your eyes
• assessing and supplying low-vision aids
• treating lazy eyes or squints, except with spectacles
• offering refractive surgery counselling, including ‘before and after’ assessments (this is surgery to correct long or short sight – often known as “laser” surgery).
The optometrist may offer you some of these at the same time as a sight test. If so, you would have to pay an extra fee. Some of the tests use new technology to give much better results than traditional methods. However, you do not have to have any extra tests if you do not wish to.