I had never heard of or considered getting a prescription from our Doctor. When we first arrived in the Aquitaine, 8 years ago, I just rang up the Opthalmo, who had been recommended by local people,and made an appointment and now l see him every couple of years. My wife did the same and it was discovered she has glaucoma so returns every 6 months. These visits and treatments are covered by the Assurance Maladie up to about 60%/70% and our Mutuelle covers the rest. I recently recommended him to others who have made appointments with him, albeit for a couple of months hence.
One of my pals is an Ophtalmologue ⊠and as we were having lunch together today⊠I took the opportunity to discuss this thread with him.
Oh dear⊠you English and your Forums⊠(he said with a smile)⊠yes, a person will need to see an Ophtalmo⊠but they are all very busy⊠I, myself, have no space until next year !
Well, as you might imagine⊠I asked how the system could be circumvented⊠or if it could. His advice was to make a friend of your Medecin Traitent âwho can cut through everything with an Ordonnanceâ⊠or to find an Optician who was prepared to (at least) check existing glasses and who would then probably/possibly recommend a visit to the Ophtalmo as and when⊠(Due to the backlogâŠit seems that new Ophtalmoâs are being urgently sought by the Health ServiceâŠand Opticiens and Doctors will help as much as possible, where they can.)
anyway⊠it made for an interesting discussion around the table⊠everyone putting in their two pennâorth (or the French equivalent).
You were spot on Stella, after showing my GP the letter from the Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon back in England he suggested that a degree of urgency was required and to let him ring for an appointment with regards to treating my suspected Glaucoma here in France, His request for an appointment would be treated more favorably than if I was to ring Direct.
This is an old-ish thread but I was wondering whether the situation had changed! I had read in the papers a year or two back that France was investing in getting opticians trained so that the eye specialists (who seem mainly to be eye surgeons?) didnât have to spend time on sight tests, but that this would take a few years.
Reading back on this thread it seems that opticians always had done sight tests so now I am completely confused. I was wondering whether the intended expansion of opticiansâ abilities/offerings (whatever they may be) was now available?
I went to the local opthalmic surgeon chap when I first arrived here nearly 5 years ago and was so put off by the experience (my goodness, he was bizarre) that I booked my usual eye test with Boots in Stroud for my next visit to the UK. However, I know that my sight has deteriorated since then and canât take the Boots option at the moment, so am looking for advice, really!
Angela, we have just had our eyes tested near Macon.
It was with an opthalmologue and it took two and a half months to get the appointments.
However, she was excellent and spoke English as she had worked in the USA.
She gave me a new prescription for my specs but said that I had the eyes of a young girl, no sign of cataract or glaucoma. I was pretty pleased.
I was overdue for test as the last time was in Cirencester Specsavers when I went back to UK for a visit.
We used to go to Stroud Vision Centre on George Street.
Our opthalmologue was recommended by our optician in Cluny, so perhaps you could ask your optician for a recommendation.
Thatâs interesting, Jane - thank you. I certainly donât have the eyes of a young girl! If onlyâŠ
The opthalmologue, if thatâs who I saw a few years back, gave a really cursory look at my eyes and said that my current glasses were fine. He was obsessed with glaucoma - if I didnât have glaucoma, I wasnât interesting
As I understand it, if one has a 'script/test that is 2 years old or under you can go to an opticians for a new eyesight test. I am lucky that I get to see the opthalmo with the very minimum of waiting so the opticians is not a course I take. I however did go to the opticians to choose some new bins, vari focal, super light lenses, scratch coating, anti reflect and transitions option. Chose the budget frames and everything works out at 190âŹâŠthatâs per eye. It is possible only in France that one could get a devis for a pair of glasses priced per eye. Anyroadup sent of the script to an online company, new glasses arrived eight days later for ÂŁ160 all up.
They were talking about extra training for opticians so that they could undertake more of the kinds of examination an opthalmologue would do in order to free up opthalmologues to do stuff like eye surgery and other sorts of treatment. Opticians in the UK already do things like tests for glaucoma etc - not just a sight test and I think that was the sort of thing they had in mind. Iâll see if I can find the referenceâŠ
The online co I used was âGlasses Directâ. They will send you 4 prs frames to try, for style and fit, for 7 days. Return is post free. They will send you another 4 prs if you want, when they get the first lot back. UK residents only, so one for a UK trip.
One of the online companies, maybe Glasses Direct, had sytem where you uploaded a selfie and could then âtryâ specs on itâ. Glasses Direct has various style and fit aides.
But once you have a scrip and know which frames you like ⊠The current customs thresholds for the EU are: Below âŹ22 in value â No VAT or duty will be due. Value is between âŹ22 and âŹ150 â VAT only will be applicable. Above âŹ150 in value â both VAT and duty will be applicable
Arenât glasses free in France now? My daughter got a new prescription and glasses a few months ago - I went with her - only as chauffeur really so I wasnât very attentive - but I thought the optician said one range of frames would be free - government paid - but she could choose others at extra cost.
