Optical care in the UK

jordata · 10-04-2011 9:11pm #1

Hi. My husband has been working in London Mon to Fri since last December for a uk company, pays uk tax, etc. Does anyone know if he would be entitled to get his eyes tested and get glasses on the NHS? Or where could I find out more information? Thanks.

Princessdizzy · 12-04-2011 3:56pm

For working people eyecare is not covered on the NHS. Eye tests are around £20 (I think, my last one was about 2 years ago). Sometimes they have offers of £15 or £10 specials. Glasses have to be paid for. Prices for these vary a lot depending on your choice of frame and any specials on the lenses (varifocal, anti-glare etc). Again different opticians do different offers, a lot of them do 'buy one pair get one pair free' but usually on pairs over £100 (just looked on specsavers website they have offer of 2 for 1 on any over £69 - but chances are there won't be much choice at that price and you'll like more expensive frames). Have a look on Specsavers, Vision Express or Boots websites. I think there are some employee entitlements that say a company has to pay for an employee's eye test if they are at a computer a certain length of time.

sudzs · 31-05-2011 9:08am

Princessdizzy is right, he won't be entitled to NHS. But if he gets an eye test and gets his prescription there are lots of good websites for frames and lenses. That's what I do anyway! But my prescription is for single vision lenses only. If he's getting bi or varifocals he might be better getting the frames online and then get an optician to glaze them and fit them properly.

These places are good...

http://www.glassesdirect.co.uk/

http://www.selectspecs.com/

http://www.wantglasses.co.uk/

who the fug · 24-06-2011 4:31pm

If he works with computers, he can claim the cost the eye test back from the company

chief07 · 04-09-2011 8:21pm

Yeah I agree with sudzs, it's MUCH cheaper to buy the frame online. The online stores don't have to pay rent, council tax, etc. so their overheads are much lower. You're much better off using someone like DirectSight - I found frames on their site for £19

http://www.directsight.co.uk

They've got a Sale section on there too, definitely worth a look. Good luck to your husband!

Fysh · 07-09-2011 3:46pm

who the fug wrote: »

If he works with computers, he can claim the cost the eye test back from the company

Yeah, this is worth checking - AFAIK most companies should have a way of claiming it back.

Beware trying to get the company to buy the glasses though - they'll usually only pay if the glasses are only necessary for work purposes, and I've heard tell of companies that keep a register of those whose glasses are company-paid, requiring them to basically sign them back into storage at the end of the day :eek:

Optical care in the UK

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