Specsavers Home Visits Team Celebrate 10 Years!

Specsavers are celebrating 10 years of bringing essential eyecare to thousands of people unable to leave their homes across the region.

For the past decade, more than 68,860 home eye tests have been given by the Specsavers London Home Visits team.

The Home Visits service is particularly important during the winter months when people, unable to leave their home unaccompanied, can become more isolated.

Preetam Meghani, Specsavers optometrist and director of the North East and North West London Home Visiting service says: ‘We are very proud that for a decade Specsavers has been bringing important eyecare to people in and around North East and North West London who are unable to leave their home, including residents of care homes.

‘We often visit older people and, in addition to our professional expertise, we are really conscious that we might be the only people they see that week.

‘Maintaining good vision is a key part of any person’s quality of life, but perhaps more so for our customers because they often have limited mobility, so most of their hobbies and pastimes will involve visual tasks.

‘We aim to enhance people’s quality of life as best we can so that they can continue to enjoy doing the things they enjoy.’

Specsavers Home Visits offer comprehensive free eye tests in the home and in care and nursing homes for people who qualify for an NHS-funded eye test and are unable to leave their house unaccompanied due to a physical or mental illness or disability.

The team carries out the same standard of eye test as in Specsavers’ stores, but with just a few changes and specialist equipment to make them home-friendly.

In the past 10 years, thousands of pairs of glasses have been dispensed to those who can’t leave their home unaccompanied, and the Home Visits teams have referred hundreds of people for treatment to safeguard their sight.

Azmat Tabassum, Specsavers optometrist and director of the South West and South East London home visiting service adds: ‘Regular eye tests are important because they can help to detect serious eye conditions such as cataracts, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration. These conditions can lead to sight loss and poor vision, which can be a risk for falls.

‘The earlier such conditions are discovered, the better the chance of successful treatment. Eye tests can also detect a variety of other serious health issues, such as brain tumours, cancers, multiple sclerosis and diabetes.’

For more information about the Home Visits team or to book an appointment, visit https://www.specsavers.co.uk/home-eye-tests