Kerasoft IC too fragile?

[longhoc]

Hi Steven

To answer your questions, from the top:

1) Alas no, they are not available from all NHS Eye Units. That's said, if you think this product may be of benefit to you (especially if you've already tried other lens types unsuccessfully) then you're perfectly in the right to ask if they could be dispensed. In fairness to the NHS, being able to prescribe lens types of any description requires a lot of specialist training -- especially with what is always going to be a "tricky" design for a Keratoconus patient. So it's not unreasonable to have some Eye Units being unable to offer them. You can though ask your GP to refer you to a clinic which does offer them.

2) Lens life expectancy is usually listed as 12 months for a "soft" lens but it does depend on a lot of factors including lens care and how diligent the user is, the eye itself and handling regimes etc. Typically a soft lens should be changed at 24 ~ 36 months regardless (the material is inherently prone to degrading just through the passage of time even if stored in ideal conditions).

3) Cost-wise, expect to pay c. £250 per lens if dispensed through private practice -- but this usually includes the aftercare and on-going management of the prescription. Different optometrists recover their costs in different ways, some may charge for the lens "at cost" but also charge for "chair time", others simply include the management time in the lens cost. As for the NHS, the standard NHS fee will apply to a Kerasoft as with any other lens (it's been a while since I had an NHS lens so I don't know exactly what this is, I think it's in the region of £50, hopefully someone who knows exactly can correct me if I'm miles out. Even worse, I've been told it before but still I can't remember !)

Cheers

Chris

[Steven Williams]

Thanks Chris for your excellent response.

You confirm what I suspected - why these lenses are not widely available on the NHS - cost/short life expectancy.

Your point about training for the contact lens fitters concerning new lenses imo is a very valid point. Like all public sector services sadly it tends to be reactive rather than pro active.

One factor I have never been able to understand with contact lens fitting is why they dont use the precise measurements now provided by the technology available -topography of the cornea.

With the funding/donations it receives it would be helpful and a useful resource if this charity could compile a database of what contact lenses are available for KCers at each NHS hospital as I suspect no gp would be able to find out without ringing up each hospital. Its worth a try though so I'll ask my GP which NHS hospital is the nearest where I can be supplied with kerasoft IC lenses on the NHS prescription charge of just over 100 quid for a set of lenses.