Contact Lenses - NHS

[helenw1301]

Later this week, I am attending my first appt at the contact lens clinic at the local hospital. I have KC in my right eye for just under 2 years and has deterioated rapidly in the past 14 months. I had to have 4 different prescriptions in my right lens for my specs in that time.

I have a few questions for you:
. What does the first appt consist of?
. Do I need to pay for the lenses and/or cleaning solutions?
. How often are the appts?
. Do they interfere with my hayfever?

[rosemary johnson]

Helen, hallo and welcome.
Congratulations on getting into the system and good luck at the hospital.
Firt appointment - if this is really with the contact lens people, they'll probably look at your eyes down their slit lamps, maybe look across them, and try a contact lens. maybe try several different contact lenses. And probably put orange dye in your eyes and then look at them with blue lights (the orange dye is to make the tears show up, so they can see that there is good tear coverage/reservoirs behind the lenses and not dry spots and air bubbles. It doesn't hurt, looks abit odd at the time, maybe, but soon wears off, and you'll find the next few times you blow your nose you'll get a yellow-orange stained hankie. SO take tissues not your grandma's antique lace handkerchiefs!
You may get a lens put in (maybe more then once) and be asked to wait around till it settles so they can see how it looks once it's been ain a while.
So take plenty of things to do - a book or magazine will show up whether you can read out of it, and something else, maybe a radiowalkman, if you can't. And plnety of cash to get drinks for the cafe or drinks machine.
Payment: yes, there is a standard charge for each contact lens on the NHS. It was 51 pounds 90 pence (plus postage and packing, if you weren't going to pop in and collect it) but that may have gone up on 1st april.
You should get a supply of solutions from the hospital to go with your lenses - quite possibly in the form of a prescription you can only fill at the hospital's own pharmacy. You may need to insist and you may well get only a month's supply. There's a prescription charge for each item.
You would get charged for either if you are certain qualifying benefits, are young and still in full-time education, retired, a war widow, etc etc..... or can fill in an HC2 form about your financial circumstances.
If you go through a lot of prescriptions, you can get a "season ticket" which covers all prescriptions for either a year or 3 months, including the CL solutions.
How often are appointments? - hopefully fairly often, until you are settled into lenses that work well and are comfortable. HOpefully not so often,and all so long-lasting, they drive your boss to distraction!
Hay fever: yeah, some of us with hay fever finds it makes the lenses more uncomfortable, or that we can't keep the lenses in so long. Have a chat witht he lens fitter about that if you get bad hay fever.
Good luck! - and do keep us posted with how you get on.
Rosmeary

[GarethB]

Just to add to Rosemary's post, the supply of solutions by the hospital is different between hospitals.

Some will give you a months supply, others like mine will give you a trial pack of lens solutions that last only a week or so.

If it is your first fitting of lenses, from my experience you will go to the hospital to collect them so they can make sure you can see with them and then go through putting them in and out plus how to clean them. The policy at my hospital is not to allow patients new to contact lenses to leave until they can confidently put lenses in and out at least three times.

Hope all goes well for you.