NHS contact lenses - new price

[Christine Wright]

Just for your information: The cost of NHS contact lenses goes up every year on 1st April. I've just looked up the Dept of Health website and found that the new charge will be £49.20 per lens (it's been £48 this year).

As most of you know, it is the same price whatever lens you need - just the same as the prescription charge which is the same whatever medication you need.

I just wish they'd stick to round figures! I wonder where the 20p came from?!

[Lynn White]

Nice to see you here Christine..

20p indeed! I suppose we should be grateful we still don't have halfpennies.....!

You must be psychic as I was just wondering what the new NHS contact lens price would be...

Lynn

[John Smith]

Christine, thanks for posting that information.

Christine/Lynn: Can you please confirm that the NHS price covers replacement lenses due to a change in prescription for a year?

If so, a year from which date? Prescription or collection?

Kind regards,

[Lynn White]

Prices depend on the time at which the prescription was issued. So in theory, if you ordered your lenses today and didn't collect for 18 months, you would still pay todays prices, as the price depends on the date you make the transactional contract.

If, on the other hand, you decided to wait to get your lenses (after the prescription was issued today) and finally didn't actually order them until after the next price round up, you would be charged the new price.

This is more to do with consumer law than anything else.

Lynn

[John Smith]

OK thanks.

Just thinking about the Moorfields situation here, where you can be prescribed a lens, wait 3 months for a collection appointment, have that appointment cancelled by the hospital, so you collect the lens 6 months after it was ordered... and the next appointment will be 6 months later.

It's just a shame that they're so slow.

[Louise Pembroke]

another ridiculous situation is that anyone in receipt of Income support will only get a letter confirming their entitlement once a year long term and the finance dept at Moorfields won't accept photocopies of the letter 6 months after it was issued which is a bit difficult if you need a lens 7 months after receipt of the letter. This protocol comes from the Dept of Health who don't seem to have any contact with the Dept of Work & Pensions

[John Smith]

Sounds like some other ministers should report to the Ministry of Silliness... oh no. They're already there!

[Louise Pembroke]

Wouldn't mind if they were like the ministry of silly walks!

[jayboi2005]

This leads into my contact lens price argument. I have decided im going to see if i can do anything about that. I just need a solid argument to present without that its pointless.

http://www.keratoconus-group.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1238

[Christine Wright]

Replying to John's question: The Dept of Health just sets the price, and the interpretation of how it's implemented is up to each hospital dept. From what John says it sounds as if Moorfields have a policy of saying that the patient doesn't pay for clinically necessary changes within a year - but that will be something their department has decided on.
The bigger the organisation, the more rules they have, and the less flexibility, I suppose. If Louise was a patient in a small dept, the Optoms would know her well and wouldn't have to be so nitpicking about the date on the letter.