Contact Lenses - trouble getting new ones :(

[bwfc2011]

Hi

Can somebody help me. I have just lost both my lenses in the space of 2 days, and now can hardly see, and can't drive. Worst of all, I go to Wembley to watch the FA CUp semi-final in just over a week and I'm not gonna be able to see anything

The problem is, I've rung Wigan Infirmary, where I normally see a consultant contact lens specialist for my contact lenses. Apparently he is in hospital for a few weeks and only he can order replacements?? Are Kerataconus contact lenses any different from normal Rigid Gas Permeable lenses I could buy online, eg http://www.lenscatalogue.co.uk/displayl ... LensID=171 where lenses are only £24.95

My contact lens 'specialist' has always hinted that keratoconus lenses are different in some way, and charged me £85 per lens stating that this is a 'special discounted NHS rate'. Is this correct, and do I have to wait an unknown amount of weeks until he is out of hospital, and have my life ruined for a few weeks, or is there any way I can order them elsewhere and get them cheaper and quicker???

Thanks

Alec

[Andrew MacLean]

Alec

You are right: contact lenses for keratoconus should not be bought on line. We each need an individual fit and that is why there are specialist optometrists who spend years learning the science and developing the art of fitting contact lenses to eyes with keratoconus.

Normally the best and safest option is to go to your usual optometrist, but it seems that route is closed to you. Is there not another optometrist at your clinic who can read your notes and order a new lens?

All the best

Andrew

[Anne Klepacz]

Hi Alec,
As Andrew says, getting KC lenses online is a no no. Badly fitting lenses could damage your eyes which you ruin your life even more! But if there isn't another optometrist at the hospital you go to, I don't see why the hospital can't give you the prescription for your lenses (you're looking for replacements, not a change in prescription) which could then be made up by another optom elsewhere. Going to another NHS hospital probably isn't an option as you need the lenses urgently, but if you can find an optom who knows about KC (try the list at keratoconus-group.org.uk/optoms.index.php) with any luck you might be able to get replacement lenses in time for Wembley. Though you'd have to pay the commercial rate for the lenses, which might be more than you pay currently (though I'm confused by the £85 per lens figure you quote as the current NHS rate is around £54 per lens unless your figure also includes solutions).
All the best
Anne
PS Investing in a spare pair of lenses just for such eventualities might be an idea for the future!

[bwfc2011]

Hi thanks for your replies guys


I have called the hospital, they said that Mr Turton (the contact lens specialist) only rents a room from them and doesn't work for the hospital so there's nothing they can do. They advised me to call his home number (again), whose wife (again) informed me that he is seriously ill, she can't order the lenses for me as she doesn't have the password, and she doesn't know the strength/prescription of lenses I have.

I rung the hospital back, they said that there is nothing they can do as Mr Turton is nothing to do with them, even though the opthamologist referred me to him and I see him at the same NHS hospital. I have noticed most people on here regularly get to see an opthamologist, when I asked to see one today they said I had been discharged from care of an opthamologist (I have only seen an opthamologist literally twice since 2003 when it was diagnosed), as they seem to think that as I have contact lenses the condition is solved. So now they say I have to be referred again to an opthamologist which will take 6 weeks.

All I want is lenses at the same prescription I already have, the hospital were rude in the end when I asked what to do next, they said 'stop asking us, we're the wrong people to ask, Mr Turton only rents a room. We can't help you'. I go working abroad around 6 weeks and now it looks like I won't be able to go, just because 1 person is ill

Any ideas of my next step??

Thanks

Alec

[Anne Klepacz]

What a crazy situation! Surely the optometrist doesn't 'only rent a room' but provides a contact lens service for the people attending the hospital who need it. So presumably all contact lens appts are cancelled for the foreseeable future? I would have thought the least the hospital could do would be to advise their patients where else they can go for specialist contact lenses whether that be another optometrist in the area or another NHS eye clinic in the area. And hopefully be looking to arrange cover while their contracted optometrist is ill.
I think I'd be wanting to contact the PALS office in the hospital to get this resolved and/or making a complaint.
But that doesn't solve the immediate problem of your need for lenses. If the hospital can't come up with anything in the next few weeks, your only option would be to find an experienced KC optom from the list on the website, even though that is likely to cost you a bit more. At least you lost your lenses now, rather than when you were already working abroad, which might have been even more of a problem! But that's small comfort, I know.
Anne

[bwfc2011]

I've now contacted a local opticians on the list, she's being really helpful trying to contact the contact lens manufacturers to find out what my lens prescription etc is as the hospital say Mr Turton doesn't record them in the outpatient notes as he 'only hires a room', and there's no way I'm ringing his wife again as it's unfair to her me keep ringing her.

The new optician has said if she doesn't manage to find the details though, she'll have to start from scratch which will be 'very costly'

[bwfc2011]

Oh I asked about what they are doing for new patients diagnosed and in need of contact lenses etc, and she said 'there's no contingency plan at the moment as he's only off sick!' But his wife told me he is 'seriously ill and on a respirator' so I don't expect him to return to work any time soon, therefore surely they should have an alternative specialist to deal with patients in the meantime. Think I am going to complain to them you know!

[Andrew MacLean]

bwfc2011

My own policy when I have difficulty with any sort of officialdom is to escalate. You'd be surprised at the results that a telephone call from your MP to the Minister of Health can get.

Andrew

[holmes]

That is a terrible situation, I hope it gets resolved soon for you.

I had a similar problem a few years ago when my contact lens practitioner died. I was originally referred to him through the hospital and had my appointments there. He started to give me appointments at his private clinic as an NHS patient so that I could get appointments quicker and easier. Unfortunately when he died no-one took over his practice and my records disappeared. I tried to get a referral back to the hospital through my GP but they claimed they had no record of me having keratoconus (although I had been referred through them originally). In the end I went to specsavers, they were very helpful and gave me a thorough eye check and wrote a referral letter to my GP. It took about a year to get back to the hospital, this is a long time when you have advanced KC and your prescription is constantly changing!

I am very lucky now, I am with a specialist eye unit and it is easier to access the optometrist. It might be worth checking out other hospitals a little bit further away and asking your GP to refer you there for future care. With current NHS legislation you can shop around for the best hopitals with the best care!

Hope you get sorted soon!
Suzanne