Coronavirus, COVID-19, advice

In response to the outbreak of the coronavirus, COVID-19, we are advising all patients to follow the latest Government advice, NHS advice and guidance from Health Protection Scotland.

This page will have our latest information on how this affects the service we provide. You can also find information on our Facebook page.

LATEST UPDATE 11.30am, Fri 22 May: Government advice remains in place that all face-to-face optometry in community practices in Scotland is suspended. We have therefore cancelled all routine eye care and must continue to temporarily close our doors to patients. Whilst this is very difficult for all concerned, the safety of our patients and staff is paramount. We are still working remotely and are very much available to all our patients whatever your query. 

As soon as we are able to reopen, we will update this page accordingly so please check here for the latest news.

How the ‘four phase route map’ affects us

Lockdown – our current status. Emergency provision only as outline below.

Phase 1: 28/05/20 – brings no change to provision of eye care. Emergency eye care provision continues as outlined below.

Phase 2: At least three weeks after phase 1 begins (earliest possible entry to this phase is 18/06/20). Likely that emergency eye care provision moves back into community and the practice opens in a limited way. Services may expand to include ‘essential’ care such as following up on issues dealt with remotely during lockdown.

Phase 3: At least three weeks after phase 2 begins but impossible to be sure (early-mid July at the earliest). The practice will reopen for routine eyecare with careful hygiene and social distancing.

Catching up with appointments

Phase 2: With the anticipated partial re-opening of the practice in phase 2, we will follow Government advice on which patients should be seen first but likely beginning with review of urgent cases from lockdown and following up on care given during lockdown. Therefore we will be in touch individually with patients affected to call them back to the practice. Details are being worked out at Government level and we will follow their guidance as we receive it.

Phase 3: We have careful records of both everyone who had appointments cancelled during lockdown, and everyone who was due to be recalled during that period. We will be in touch to recall those patients before opening up for requested routine appointments. Details of the measures we are taking to further reduce any chance of infection will be provided to patients prior to their visit.

Emergency eye care

It is crucial we play our part to avoid putting added pressure on the NHS at this time, so please do still make us your first port of call in an emergency. We are available during working hours, as well as out-of-hours, for any of our patients requiring emergency eye care. Whilst we are unable to see you in person in the practice, we are able to provide an assessment via phone, or ideally video call, where we can discuss your issue. We can then advise on your best course of action. We are still able to provide prescriptions by phone/video. When you phone, you will likely to be asked to send us photos of your affected eye. You can find out how to do that by watching this video.

An ’emergency’ includes such issues as, red eye, foreign body, eye trauma, recent loss of vision, recent onset of eye pain or symptoms which suggest a recent retinal tear or detachment such as flashing lights and floaters. You can watch this video for further information on what constitutes an emergency. 

Should your issue require further investigation, Edinburgh is running a central Emergency Eye Treatment Centre. This hospital-based, outpatient clinic for eye emergencies, is staffed by experienced optometrists, including the Cameron Optometry team. All the staff will have full protective equipment and adhere to the strictest hygiene measures to keep everyone safe. Patients should first contact their own optometrist to see if their problem can be dealt with over the phone, if a face to face examination is absolutely essential, optometrists can refer into EETC which is located at the Lothian Optometric Teach and Treat (LOTT) Clinic in the basement of the Lauriston Building on Lauriston Place – access to this clinic is through referral and by appointment only. The clinic is open Monday – Friday 10am-4pm.

Contact lens orders

Contact lens orders will still be processed in the usual way. If you anticipate requiring additional contact lenses in the coming months, please get in touch as we are keen to ensure you do not have any break in your supply of lenses. 

Dispensing of glasses

We are still able to fix and replace glasses if required. If you have damaged glasses or require a new pair for another reason, please get in touch and we arrange for them to be fixed or replaced. You can select new frames via video call and we can arrange for those to be made up (assuming we have your latest prescription) and sent out to you.

General enquiries

You are also very welcome to contact us by email with any general enquiries regarding your eye care. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We would love to hear from you.

Priority for NHS keyworkers

We will do everything we can to support NHS key workers who are under incredible strain, so if you’re in this category, make sure you tell us so we can make it as easy as possible for you to carry on doing your vital work.

Updates

We will update our website regularly should this current situation change. We will also post helpful videos and advice on maintaining good eye care on our Facebook page. 

We appreciate the unwavering loyalty of our patients, now more than ever. And we pass on our very best wishes to all our patients at this time and hope to see you back in the practice soon. 

Phone: 0131 225 2235

Email: vision@cameronoptom.com