For some medical conditions, contact lenses are the only possible or practicable method of sight correction. In conditions such as:
contact lenses are the preferred option for sight correction.
They may also be used as bandage lenses and for:
The fitting of contact lenses in such clinical situations is currently undertaken, if at all, within the secondary sector i.e. in hospital-based clinics which are often staffed by part-time, contact lens practitioners, and following a consultant access appointment. These practitioners, because they have a special interest in contact lenses, usually offer the same or similar service from their community based practices on a private basis i.e. to non-NHS patients. It seems difficult to justify the allocation of relatively expensive, hospital-based specialist clinics, for this purpose, when community optometrists can provide the service.
Basing such services in the community, where premises, equipment and skills are already established, offers patients the advantages of convenience and continuity, as well as the potential of a cost efficient service to the provider.
As with all enhanced services, planning needs to be undertaken in a multi-disciplinary forum, ensuring that the interests of the patient are central to the delivery system. This section does not cover the fitting of artificial eyes.
Please click on the pdf on the right of this page for an overview of this area of optometry and guidance on what contact lens schemes ought to incorporate.
