spec savers failed to inform of a bleed behind the eye

bcl999

Just a coincidence but at my diabetes eye clinic appointment last week there was a young chap from Specsavers sitting in on the consultations. He is training to be an optician with them and they sent him along to the hospital for a couple of weeks. He was finding it very useful as he said he was getting an opportunity to observe many different stages of the various conditions (retinopathy, maculopathy, vein occlusion) that he wouldn't normally see in his branch.

I wouldn't rely on any high street optician for my diabetes eye examination though.

tidus

To state that he "should" have picked it up, well again that depends where it was and how bad it was at the time. Its perfectly possible that it could have gone from insignificant to significant in two weeks. This is why the diabetic screening system exists - it wouldn't be in place if the standard examination was reliably able to pick up on everything. Things such as this are overlooked all day everyday by every optometrist, mainly as as result of the NHS only paying £20 per examination, leaving the appointment times too short, the examinations less through than they could be.

Ivory_Tinkler

OP maybe you should mention to your mum that if she goes for any type of medical screening it would be wise to advise the health practitioner of her diabetes. That way they are aware and can pay more attention to possible effects of her health condition. The optician in question is the professional indeed, but he could have done a much better job had he have been fully informed of your mum's condition.

You do say that your mum was aware of a bleed anyway and although I am not taking sides with the optician, his failure to mention it hasn't affected her or caused her any inconvenience/suffering other than getting annoyed at being fobbed off on the phone?

Specsavers_2

Hi, we're from Specsavers.
We picked up on your post and are keen to investigate your experience further.
Please can you PM us your contact details and let us know which store you visited so we can review this.
Thanks

cyberbob

I have always found specsavers very poor. I had a prescription that was so far off my proper prescription its hard to see how they were that far out. I haven;t returned since. Since I have been using a local independant I have found them fantastic and not too expensive either

pmduk

In my experience the optician's staff will already have enquired about the patient's status re diabetes, if only to work out whether to charge for the consultation. I've reflected on this post since first reading it yesterday, and imho it need reporting to the general optical council. The main purpose of an eye examination is to pick up on any underlying conditions. An optician choosing not to report findings is totally unacceptable. Fortunately my experience with Specsavers has been the total opposite, they found early signs of glaucoma, which took the specialists at the local eye hospital a further 2 years to confirm.

mountainofdebt

But how was your mum aware of the bleed originally?

FATBALLZ

No win no fee. Demand compo. Your mother has been violated.

pinkykat

When I have been to specsavers they always ask at the start is there any problems with your eyes and what is your eye history. Sound to me as though you are just after compo. what a shame this is what the country has come too.
When you go to the doctors you dont just sit there and expect them to know whats wrong and everything about you. You give them brief history so the same applies.

gemmy26wales

in response to your comment pinky hat i am not after compensation whatsoever from anyone.

my post is to see if i should make an official complaint. there are other people that i know that have also had a poor service from this particular branch which is upto them to take up their own concerns. my whole point is that the optician took for granted that my mother attends regular diabetes clinic. which many dont. in that case the bleed could have deteriorated seriously with my mother unaware.

i totally agree with you in the whole 'sueing culture' that is going on at the moment. i know many a people that have sued for whiplash when they have had a tiny bump in their car.

once again thanks for everyone's input. much appreciated. xxx