Eye Test / Over 60

moonpenny

Could someone clarify for me, the charges for an eye test once you reach 60.

I turned 60 this wk but don't officially qualify for State Pension untill November 2011 (owing to the new rules.

I can't get a bus pass untill then and when I phoned Specsavers about the cost of an eye test for over 60 they said it would be £19. Today however, there was an ad in the paper with several deals on and one that said Free Eye Test for over 60's. It wasn't a special deal, it just said because presriptions were free at 60.

Could anyone shed light on the matter?

p00hsticks

According to this, you can get a free NHS eye test if you are over 60

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/895.aspx?CategoryID=68&SubCategoryID=157

moonpenny

Thanks p00hsticks, Just read through the government stuff.

I don't think they update the info often enough and I reckon it will be like the Bus Pass thing - have to wait until official retirement date.

Agapanthus

The basic eye-test is free for over 60s. Some opticians provide extra tests such as retinal imaging that the NHS won't pay for. If you're being asked to pay, ask what for.

Aliasaila

I'm in Scotland and most tests are free here. At 60 the NHS pays for a test every year instead of every 2 years but the tests don't become free at 60 automatically, they revert to yearly testing after their first NHS test post 60. A 59 year old patient would be seen when they are 61 on a 2 year recall and then be seen yearly after that.

Could it be that you only get the free test when you are due one and not just when you turn 60?

sueeve

I'd just try a different optician. Why not Boots, wh I find very good, or one of the other chains.
If new glasses are needed some places refund the test fee for anyone.

nedmundo

Aliasaila wrote: »

I'm in Scotland and most tests are free here. At 60 the NHS pays for a test every year instead of every 2 years but the tests don't become free at 60 automatically, they revert to yearly testing after their first NHS test post 60. A 59 year old patient would be seen when they are 61 on a 2 year recall and then be seen yearly after that.

Could it be that you only get the free test when you are due one and not just when you turn 60?

In the UK, you will get an NHS funded eye exam every 2 years, on the proviso it is 2 years since your last eye exam (NHS or private).

LittleVoice

nedmundo wrote: »

In the UK, you will get an NHS funded eye exam every 2 years, on the proviso it is 2 years since your last eye exam (NHS or private).

Can you give me the evidence for this statement, that an eye test you had when paying privately for it is taken into consideration when receiving an NHS-funded test later?

Also I believe that if the optician had noted that a test should be repeated after one year rather than two then this means that another test between the one- and two-year point is free under the NHS scheme (for 60+ of course).

nedmundo

LittleVoice wrote: »

Can you give me the evidence for this statement, that an eye test you had when paying privately for it is taken into consideration when receiving an NHS-funded test later?

Also I believe that if the optician had noted that a test should be repeated after one year rather than two then this means that another test between the one- and two-year point is free under the NHS scheme (for 60+ of course).

I can - on the front of the blue GOS1 form you sign for an NHS eye exam, it now states 'date of last eye exam' instead of 'date of last NHS eye exam', as a result of the change in NHS regulations last year. At the end of the day, why should the NHS pay for an eye exam if a patient only had one a few months prior and isn't having any symptoms? It would be a waste of tax-payers money.

You are quite right with your second point - an NHS test can be earlier, if there is good clinical reason to do so.

Aliasaila

The brown GOS (S)1 form still asks for last NHS sight test date.

nedmundo

Either way, expecting the NHS to fund an unneccesary test is a waste of public funds.