BMJ 1994;309:1370-71 (19 November)

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The sight test fee Relatives at risk can have free test

Relatives at risk can have free test

EDITOR, - A review of case notes showed that up to 19% fewer new patients were referred to Bristol Eye Hospital during 1989-92 and that there was a contemporaneous 19% decrease in true glaucoma referrals.1 Free unconditional NHS sight tests were withdrawn from 1 April 1989, and the authors propose this as the cause for the reduced number of referrals. No data are presented in support of such a causal relation.

The total number of adult referrals and the number of true glaucoma referrals were both reduced by 19%, which implies a global decrease in the referral rate to Bristol Eye Hospital, possibly reflecting a changing trend in the destination of general practitioners' ophthalmology referrals. Not all ophthalmology referrals are made as a result of the patient undergoing a sight test by an optician; some are made direct by a general practitioner (the . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

The sight test fee: effect on ophthalmology referrals and rate of glaucoma detection
D A H Laidlaw, P A Bloom, A O Hughes, J M Sparrow, and V J Marmion
BMJ 1994 309: 634-636. [Abstract] [Full Text]

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