Optometrists have called for a greater role in public eye care in line with their training and expertise and say this would dramatically cut hospital and clinic waiting times.

Optometry Ireland is writing to all TDs outlining the steps which would reduce times for outpatient eye care and save the taxpayers money as well.

Spokesperson for Optometry Ireland Liz Grennan told Breakfast Briefing that optometrists are currently paying around €60 out of pocket for routine eye exams.

Optometrist visit - woman get her new glasses at optician office. Image: ronstik / Alamy. 8 February 2019

“98% of our patients are covered for an eye exam under PRSI and their medical card,” she said.

“However, the fees that we get for that has been unchanged for 20 years.

“We are getting the same amount of money - €30 in the case of PRSI or €22.51 for an eye exam - that we were getting 20 years ago.

“Despite all the cost of living, all the COVID, all the austerity cuts – everything has gone up except for our fees, basically, and we are providing a much more greatly expanded service than we were 20 years ago.”

Ms Grennan said that the break-even cost of an eye examination is €96.

Waiting lists

She also said eye care waiting lists are “not great and they’re not improving”.

“We’re one of the largest of any medical specialist of the outpatients awaiting eye care appointments,” she said.

“A lot of those appointments are routine and our members actually could cover them, but just due to the way that things are structured, they’re having to go through a longer waiting list, having to be seen in the public system.”

Optometrist examining senior woman's eye with ophthalmoscope. Image: Daria Artemenko / Alamy. 14 October 2018

According to Ms Grennan, Optometry Ireland’s letter to TDs will push for fees “that are paying us realistically for our time”, as well as an over-eight national eye-care programme.

“The public system sees a lot of the younger children - there may be more complicated cases, but at around eight, a lot of those patients could be released back into the primary care, back into optometrist waiting rooms,” she said.

“But they’re sort of stuck in that system of being seen by an ophthalmologist - so a surgeon or someone who specialised in eyes - where it’s really just a routine appointment maybe.

“They actually could be released back out, freeing up space for other younger patients to come back in the system the other end.”

Ms Grennan said we are not investing enough in eye care and warned the public to be proactive and in taking care of their visual health.

Main image: Woman doing eye test with optometrist in eye sight clinic. Image: Andor Bujdoso / Alamy. 26 March 2017