Are opticians open in England? If you can get an eye test at Boots, Vision Express or Specsavers opticians

Lockdown restrictions in England are beginning to ease, but are opticians open?
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Lockdown restrictions in England are slowly beginning to ease, with the country set to move into Phase 3 in July, and many pubs and hairdressers are being allowed to reopen.

But are opticians now open for routine appointments? Here’s what you need to know.

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Here’s what you need to know about when you might be able to get your eyes tested again - and what to do if you have an emergency (Photo: Shutterstock)Here’s what you need to know about when you might be able to get your eyes tested again - and what to do if you have an emergency (Photo: Shutterstock)
Here’s what you need to know about when you might be able to get your eyes tested again - and what to do if you have an emergency (Photo: Shutterstock)

When did opticians close?

Opticians ceased running routine appointments when the UK entered into lockdown.

During lockdown those who needed access to urgent and essential eye care were still able to get help as opticians were allowed to remain open for such cases only.

However in a statement released on Tuesday (June 17), the General Optical Council announced that opticians were now allowed to reopen for routine check-ups.

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A letter from NHS England to opticians said: “Government guidance allows retail premises to re-open from 15 June. It is therefore now appropriate to enable optical premises to commence re-opening and for practices to begin the resumption of provision of GOS services.” GOS stands for general ophthalmic services.

The advice of NHS England and NHS Improvement is that the sequencing and

scheduling of patients for treatment as services resume should consider:

• the urgency of needs

• the particular unmet needs of vulnerable groups

• available capacity to undertake activity

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Which opticians are now open?

During lockdown, Specsavers had suspended all routine eye appointments, but remained open to support people in the communities if they needed urgent or essential care.

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Specsavers is now open for routine appointments in England, with the website explaining, “We’re back open for bookings in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands. If you’re in Scotland, and you need urgent or essential care, contact your nearest store who will be there to help).”

Vision Express and Boots Opticians also remained open for urgent and emergency appointments. They are now back open for routine appointments.

What is essential eye care?

This includes, but is not limited to, appointments for patients who would not normally be considered to be emergencies, but where a delay in an examination could be detrimental to a patient’s sight or wellbeing.

This could include situations where patients have broken or lost their glasses or contact lenses and need a replacement pair to function.

What is urgent or emergency eye care?

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This is where urgent clinical advice or intervention is needed, for example for red eye, contact lens discomfort, foreign objects, sudden change in vision, flashes and floaters, or where the patient has been advised to attend a practice by NHS 111 or another healthcare professional for urgent eye care.