Incidentally, if one combines a standard/necessary visit to one’s Doc, with a request for a “scrip for glasses check”… then one gets extremely good value for money… as it all comes under the one standard 25€ charge for “consulation with Doc…”
and the Glasses-check scrip will be noted at the Opticien (I always keep a copy) and it’s good for 2 years (or is it 3 ?)
My MT suggests claiming severe headaches , to achieve an earlier rdv.
All areas of health seem to be busy, so asking for a rdv and waiting one’s turn seems fair enough…
In my experience, medical folk will do their best to meet/fulfil a request from someone with a genuine health problem…
If glasses are broken/damaged… the opticien can replace them swifly and with style… 
Doubt it would work to be honest, you maybe told to go to Urgences instead for a head scan. I was at the dentist recently and the poor receptionist was getting a lot of calls from people trying to get appointments but she could not help any of them because the slots were all full until about six months time when they might get a visit. She did suggest going to the local hospital to see if the dental dept could help but other than that, it was trés desolé.
when I reported an eye-problem to my Doc… he took a look… and wrote a scrip for the Ohthalmo…
2 days of trying for a rdv… the earliest was in several months… and Doc and I were both worried…
Doc told me to go A&E where (after a 2 hour wait) I was seen by an Eye Specialist in the attached hospital … wonderful chap, he and his staff took great care of me and my eyes…
No, he didn’t give me a prescription for new glasses… it was the eyes themselves which had the problem. He sorted that and suggested I get into a regular check-up routine with an Ophthalmo… just in case it all went pear-shaped.
Since then, I’ve found out that a carclub pal is an Ophthalmo and he fits me in during his lunchbreak…
personally, I’d never tempt fate by pretending… but that’s just me…
I don’t know your budget for varifocals, but if you are wanting the best available (as I do, not for reasons of vanity but because I am a professional photographer!) and decide to get them in the UK, I would avoid buying them from SpecSavers or Vision Express i.e. the usual big chains.
Having had three-zone varifocals for 20+ years, I have found by experience that varifocal lenses vary in quality depending on the manufacturer, and usually the chain opticians only sell one brand.
I bought some varifocals from SpecSavers in 2014 and they sold me Pentax lenses, which despite being a reputable brand were definitely inferior to the Essilor lenses I had previously had from Dollond & Aitchison (now rebranded as Boots Opticians).
Currently I have Steiner lenses from Brillen, the German opticians who have recently expanded into the UK. I decided to try them in the hope of saving a few quid, but once I’d been through all the options they were only marginally cheaper than Boots. Service and choice of frames was comparable.
The Essilors are the best lenses I’ve ever had, with the Steiners a close second. The Pentax lenses were horrible in comparison, with a much narrower field of view (i.e they were only really sharp in the middle of the lens, not to the sides, which meant that road signs were out of focus until you got close to them!)
After going back and forth with SpecSavers on this and having the lenses remade, they finally admitted that Pentax could not match Essilor for quality and gave me a refund!
Oh and Vision Express once made me a pair with the prescriptions the wrong way up, so that close focus was at the top and distance at the bottom!!
So long story short, book up with a branch of Boots Opticians when you go to the UK!
Don’t know much about lens, but I do know that the French optician gave me lots of options (and prices!) of different quality lenses and size of focal areas. Never had that in UK!
I have been using Selectspecs for many years (10+) and I’m on my third set of varifocals with them. I do insist on getting the frames aligned in their store at Westgate-on-Sea, though. I think varifocals need in-person alignment. I’ve just received my latest set of every day glasses and sunglasses from them, roughly £140 per pair, including delivery to France. That’s with their highest spec. super-thin elite (custom-made) varifocal lenses for my every day glasses, and standard thickness elite varifocal polarised sunglasses. No complaints and I don’t worry that I’ve been ripped-off! I also work in photography.
Yes I got caught out like that about three years ago and ended up with a pair costing over €700 with all the bells and whistles that to be honest I could have got cheaper elsewhere but it was one of those mad moments in a shopping centre and new flashy shop open. After the cataracts were done, I went to Ecouter et Voir and got a pair for less than €150 with tint and sunglasses for €49, both progressive lenses. Now saving for something new after visit to opthalmo a couple of weeks ago for a two year exam.
I suppose each cataract case is different… in what can and can’t be achieved.
and it’s marvellous that the eyes can be “helped” in one way or another…
A couple of folk I know, no longer need glasses after having their eyes “done”…
only sunglasses against the glare
My nextdoor neighbour is having one eye “done” on Tuesday… 
and, only last night, another neighbour was reading her the riot act about the need for care putting in drops and keeping her head up… ??
she’s already had both hers done and feels she is the local “expert” .
whatever, I think she’s worried the life out of my pal next door… who was already feeling alarmed about Tuesday
I don’t really need the glasses but prefer to use them for driving as with age, your eyes continue to deteriorate regardless of having prescription related new lenses inserted and now because I was young, there is the start of new growth (Brian explained it well). I do wear sunglasses more than I have ever done, they were a nuisance to me before but I know better now! 
Hopefully, there is a cut-off age when cataracts don’t regrow… as I don’t think my neighbours could go through this again…
I dosn’t have to be done in hospital, the prof said he could do it in five mins at the cabinet. Its the fear of the unknown that scares people, you think that being eyes its going to pop out or you get injected in the eyeball, that sort of horror but it isn’t.At least France takes hygiene and keeping germs at bay (two betadine douches one hour before leaving home including hair and all nether regions) and complete removal of outside clothing for jammies etc. My sister in UK sat in her jacket with her boots on, no prior disinfecting etc.
Cataracts can not grow in a (plastic) replacement lens. But, following lens replacement, 5% to 10% of patients develop a thickening of the capsule that holds the lens leading to symptoms that appear a bit like a cataract. Treatment is fast and simple, using a laser to cut away the thickened areas. It usually takes between 39 second and 2 minutes and is completely trauma-free and painless. Once the problem has been dealt with, that’s it…
Next door is trying to make light of things and hadn’t realized the importance of the brown stuff… .
She’s at the market in town today, with strict instructions to visit the pharmacy and get it… or she’ll be in trouble… (possibly in more ways than one…)
I already got my prescription for the bunions in Sept and October for a load of betadine and other items. They can’t actually check if you have used it, it washes away but respect for infections overtake anti-usage. I was worried it would stain the bath but it went. After having a dear friend contract MRSA in hospital after a very minor op and then dying of it, we all take disinfecting seriously in our family- during covid, my DIL would make us shower on return from the supermarket or elsewhere there were people!
Perhaps OH and I have sensitive skin…
but we’ve definitely had a gentle glow as each of us sauntered to meet our surgeon…
anyway… it’s too important to overlook/skip… so I’ll be checking later that she has got the stuff… then it’s up to her whether or not she uses it…
I have a big bottle of vétédine for when my dog needed it, there’s lots left so I just use that when I need antiseptic and don’t mind being dyed 
Cataracts form in the natural lens of your eye. That’s removed and replaced with an artificial lens, so there is no chance of cataracts returning.
must confess, that was my thinking… but… seems some folk have things happen/change and then need to get glasses again…
so many variables… ah well… fingers crossed I’m not at that stage. just yet… I’ll settle for my glasses which work well for me… with no cats in sight