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I was there as part of an assessment of the consistency and fairness of British optometry. Since Brits spend £105 million on eye tests each year, the Reader’s Digest assignment seemed reasonable: visit ten optometrists, ask for an eye test and whether you need new glasses and see what they say.
Three hours later I was in a branch of a high street chemist having the backs of my eyes photographed with a retinal camera. I thought, If there is something wrong with my optic nerve it should be obvious, because this will actually take a picture of it. But, to my amazement, the optometrist said briskly, “Your eye pressure is a little high, but within normal limits; you need to be tested again in 12 months. Have you had a look at our frames?”
The same eyes, the same city and the same day, yet very different results. Of all ten optometrists I visited—well-known high street names, independents and a supermarket—only seven were to pick up that something was seriously wrong with my eyes and either refer me to my GP or ask me to come back for more tests. Three said no more than, “See you in a year.”
But glaucoma is serious. Says the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) campaign manager Barbara McLaughlan, “More than 30,000 people in the UK have lost their sight to this treatable condition.” According to Professor David Edgar of the Department of Optometry and Visual Science, City University, and co-editor of Glaucoma Identification and Co-Management, “There are possibly a quarter of a million people suffering from glaucoma in this country and as many more remain undiagnosed.” Page 2 of 6
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