Provision of NHS-funded spectacles in South London

Abstract

In the UK the National Health Service (NHS) funds primary eyecare in the form of General Ophthalmic Services (GOS) mostly via 'sight tests' with community optometrists. Eligible groups include those aged 60 years or more and many are also entitled to an NHS optical voucher to be used to fund spectacles. Only some optical practices provide spectacles whose cost is fully covered by the voucher value which we describe as voucher value spectacles (VVS). As part of a larger study investigating vision screening in the older population, we sought to investigate the proportion of practices that provide VVS. A questionnaire was sent to all optical practices in South London and also a more national sample of optometrists using the UK optometry e-mail discussion list. All 75 respondents provide NHS sight tests. VVS were provided by 59% of the total sample (70% of the South London sample). For those who supply VVS, the number of frames that were provided for patients to choose from ranged from 1 to 100, with a median of 16.5. Of those practitioners who did not supply VVS, 13% provided spectacles whose lens cost was fully covered by the NHS Voucher. In South London nearly a third of the practices do not provide VVS and it has been suggested that this is because the voucher values are uneconomic. The limited availability of VVS may act as one of the barriers that result in so many older people in the UK having poor vision simply through lack of appropriate spectacles.