cost of lenses not on nhs

[dalbeath]

Lynn,

You said "The NHS provides an excellent service free of charge" Am I right in thinking from your post that you are an optician and NOT a KC suffer?

I'm sure anyone in your area of the country would agree with your comment but the reality is that the service provided across the country is patchy to say the least. My experience of the NHS and KC has been frustrating, unsatisfactory and the service has been very poor.

The reality is that in some areas if you want a good service you have to go privately. I'm very fortunate that I have a brilliant and cheap high st optician. The point of my post was not to infer that "any optometrist that charges an economic rate for seeing a patient is somehow being less than honest" but to give some hope to the original poster that it is possible to find a good high st optician with extensive KC experience that does not charge a consultation fee (incidentally I have never signed an NHS form)any

[Andrew MacLean]

dalbeath

I am a KC sufferer and would certainly endorse Lynn's statement; in my experience the NHS provides a first class service. Unfortunately, Lynn and I both know that this excellent service is not universal in the NHS; where they get it right they get it very right, where they get it wrong ... well I guess you have already drawn attention to some of the shortcomings in some parts of the NHS.

Andrew

[Ali Akay]

Hi Dalbeith

It sounds like your fab optometrist is seeing you (and possibly other KC patients) as a hobby to make his daily routine more interesting rather than earning a living. Otherwise, I fail to see how he could afford to provide his chair time free and supply you with lenses at virtually cost price. May be he is a very wealthy individual, hasnt got rent, rates, staff costs etc etc to worry about. This obviously is not your concern and I hope he is able to carry on providing this service to you for years to come. Unfortunately for most of us, this is not a possibility and we have to charge realistic fees to survive. Incidentally, the fees most contact lens practitioners charge per hour is less than labour charged by an electrician or a plumber. Surely a contact lens practitioner with years of experience and huge overheads ought to be worth at least as much as a plumber?

[Andrew MacLean]

imernater

The tone of your most recent email was a little hectoring, and I think it best that I now close this exchange. I have removed the post.

Andrew