Spectacles- shall I order them?

[piedwarbler]

Hi,
I was surprised last time I visited mum that the home had let an optician see her. He has recommended new specs at a cost of £105.
Does this sound like a good deal? I said what about NHS and they said she is not eligible. Or something.
I was going to talk to my own optician, don't know now whether to just pay this bill and forget it. Some battles aren't worth it, you know?
Any advice? Mum's prescription is about -3
Thanks x

 

[BeckyJan]

Its worth finding out why she is not NHS eligible. Perhaps ring the optician directly. If there is a good reason I suppose you have no alternative but to agree to your Mum paying for them.

 

[sistermillicent]

I cannot believe that she is not eligible for nhs, how completely ludicrous. Check it out before paying, with a different optician.
x

 

[DeborahBlythe]

Hi Pied, the rules for eligibility are on this page. ( Scroll down to the relevant frequently asked question(s))

http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/AboutNHSservices/opticians/Pages/NHSopticiansFAQ.aspx
Hope this helps, x

 

[Christin]

Hello Pied, I think I would speak to her regular optican first. Best to be happy about it before you pay. x

 

[sunny]

If she needs them urgently now then pay to have them, keep the receipt and make further enquiries but will she wear them????? its all very well buying them but will in fact she wear them or will she hide them away somewhere or sit on them and break them. Mum despite encouragement would seldom wear her specs although she needed them and great effort was made to get them. My mum didnt qualify and I had to pay full wack, unfortunately cant remember the exact price now but it was about £80+ i think (a while back now). Are they reading glasses or long distance, if they are reading - will she read? or look at tv? Perhaps ask your optician advice before proceeding?

I have just thought of something maybe at first get her those cheaper ones (from boots or pharmacies) the ones that you just try on in the store (they have got the magnification size on them) firstly just to see how she gets on with glasses then you will know whether to buy the real thing or not.

 

[Amber 5]

Hi,
Just to give you a comparison:-

This has also happened to my Mum recently in her Care Home. The care manager contacted me to say that they recommended she had reading glasses, that they would be named and would cost £35 - and it was private.

I don't know how they were so reasonable cost wise, especially as it was a private optician, but that is all we have paid.

love Gill x

 

[ChristineR62]

Hi

I don't know if this would be applicable to your mum's circumstances, but my mum, who is in a home, lost the glasses she went in with. I rang the Health Cost advice line on 0845 850 1166 to ask for an HC1 form for someone in a care home - it's important to add that part, as there are two versions of the form: the standard form is like War and Peace, but the care home version has fewer pages than the average kids' comic - which I filled in and sent back.

Mum was awarded an HC2 certificate, valid for 5 years, which means that not only does she get free sight tests, she also gets free glasses, subject to the limits of the voucher codes on the certificate. The home got their visiting optician to see her, and she now has a very nice pair of glasses, which the home has labelled with her name, but they cost absolutely nothing.

Now, this may be dictated by the fact that Mum is LA-funded and has absolutely no assets or savings - it's a while since we went through the process, and to be honest, I can't remember all the details, but it might be worth an investigation.

Hope this helps!

Love
Christine
xxx

 

[Onlyme]

Mum keeps sitting on hers which is strange as she can't walk. I have no idea how she manages this but she has broken three pairs already.

 

[piedwarbler]

Thanks for all the advice, as ever, glad I asked. Lemony I am sorry your mum keeps sitting on hers, it's amazing the scrapes our mums get into considering they have such limited mobility isn't it?! x

 

[piedwarbler]

What a hoot. She doesn't get pension credit any more, they stopped it when she sold her house, (she's self funding) so that is obviously why she doesn't qualify. Thank you for the link which explained it, Deborah.

I suppose the money all goes down the same govt black hole one way and another x

 

[Canadian Joanne]

My mother wore glasses all the time but after she was in hospital in 2006 for 7 weeks and didn't wear them there, we took them away.

Mum was in a wheelchair, didn't read or watch TV or knit or anything like that. So we felt this would be the best thing to do. Mum doesn't seem to miss them at all.

 

[fredsnail]

When the home optician went in we were told the glasses would cost £250. We complained and the optician went in again to give Grandad another choice of glasses - £150.

We took the prescription by the home optician to another optician who did a very similar pair for £50.

 

[scarletpauline]

Does she have other ones or is this a new thing for her to have to wear glasses? Was thinking if she has some old ones aren't they good enough?

 

[piedwarbler]

She has worn glasses all her adult life and I know her prescription was out of date, I just hadn't got round to doing anything about it yet! The dentist has been this week and that will cost me an arm and a leg, his check up was £50. She doesn't seem unduly unhappy with her sight.

Oh well, ho hum.

 

[jenniferpa]

Pied - I would go with fredsnail's advice: get the prescription from the optician and then call around other opticians or even order from an online store. The price can be as low as £20.

 

[piedwarbler]

I've got the prescription in my bag so when I get out and about again I'll have a look-see in town. I don't think Mum will struggle in the mean time. Her glasses work and aren't broken. She wore a one armed pair once for a long while!

Thank you again for all the help. There really is nothing you don't know about!