Our Services

Welcome
Relax in our friendly, professional atmosphere - 40 minute appointments the norm.
Child friendly environment, including activity area .
We are committed to providing:
A comprehensive eye examination including screening and diagnostic tests and referrals for medical care if necessary.
Advice on eye health and safety at work and play.
Information on the visual development of children.
A copy of your spectacle or contact lens prescription.
Spectacles dispensed by qualified staff.
Expert advice on frames and lenses to suit your needs.
A 12 month guarantee against faulty manufacture on all our spectacles.
You can be sure that when you visit us we'll look after your eyes.

The Eye Examination
Having an eye examination seems to worry many people, and the consulting room is an alien environment for most people. However, there is normally no need for concern, and we allow plenty of time for each appointment. We still use the old, familiar letter chart, but also have the high-tech equipment where this is beneficial. We routinely check for cataract, glaucoma and other obvious eye conditions, but may also be able to identify general health problems - don't fret about this though, it doesn't happen very often

The eye examination includes a number of tests in order to assess your eye health and spectacle prescription.

This might include the following:

Tonometry

This is the 'puff-of-air' test that many people dread. Our machine blows a puff of air on to the eye to measure the pressure inside the eye. It is gentle and simply makes you blink - it is not painful or uncomfortable - honest!! Our tonometer also does a few other checks on the eyes including checking corneal thickness and curvature.

Visual Field Screening

Where indicated, we screen for glaucoma using the Zeiss FDT screener (left of screen). This is mainly the over 40's who are more at risk of developing glaucoma. It is a quick and easy test to use and very 'observant' for visual field problems. If this finds a problem we then use the hospital standard test, the Humphrey Visual Field Analyzer.

Comprehensive glaucoma screening

requires assessment of the optic nerve at the back of the eye, eye pressure and visual fields. This equipment allows us to carry out these tests with confidence in the results. This test is not funded by the NHS so there is a fee for the assessment.

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)

We now have a Topcon Maestro OCT in the practice. This is used for our diabetic eye screening, but it can do far more than that!
This state of the art equipment is used to investigate the retina and optic nerve. It can be described as an MRI or CAT scan for the eye, allowing us to identify problems within the eye that could not be easily detected before. It is particularly useful to help identify early signs of glaucoma and age related macula degeneration, both of which are often treatable if identified early enough. It is a simple test, which takes a few seconds to complete and it is not painful or uncomfortable.

The cost of the test is not covered by the NHS, so we do have to make a charge to the patient for this.