Warning of extra pressure on Lincolnshire and Newark's GPs because of common eye problems

Eye problems should be treated by an optometrist

Eye test
Author: Andy MarshPublished 12th Jun 2024

A new report shows that people across Lincolnshire and Newark are causing 'unnecessary demands' on struggling GPs by going to them for common eye conditions - instead of experts

The Association of Optometrists found that three-quarters of high street opticians had seen a patient in the last six months who had booked a GP appointment first.

They also revealed that over 1 million GP appointments are made in the UK each year for Hay fever-related eye conditions -

Dr Martin Smith is a doctor of optometry and works in a practice in the centre of Lincoln

He spoke to us about the issue.

"Really optometry can treat most things that don't require surgery."

"Eye problems are quite complex and GPs - who are wonderful people and pharmacists likewise - don't have the specific training or equipment to distinguish between common eye conditions often."

"When I started largely what we did was just eye tests and glasses whereas now we're trained to prescribe - we can treat eye conditions and all optometrists are capable of diagnosing and if necessary referring on."

"If the last time you went to an optician was as a child and they told you didn't need glasses and your vision is fine then your inclination is not to go back to the optician because a lot of people still think optical practices is just for getting specs."

"The most common conditions we see is - children with dry eyes and a lot of allergies and those things can be really effectively treated."

"There are more serious eye conditions that we see but they're obviously rarer."

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.