Study exposes 'flawed' eye tests

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People with poor eyesight may be coming away from eye tests with inaccurate prescriptions, a survey suggests.

Which? judged 17 of 39 examinations it studied to be poor or very poor because it said essential tests were missed.

Seven led to inaccurate prescriptions, which the consumer group said could cause headaches or blurred vision.

The General Optical Council regulatory body said complaints about opticians were falling and every eye test was conducted according to the patient.

There are 17.5m sight tests each year and in 2006-2007 there were 129 complaints, a 29% reduction on the previous year, the GOC said.

The body also stressed that there was no checklist of tests to be carried out, and that a practitioner had to make decisions based on each individual patient.

No questions asked

Which? deployed student optometrists to 39 practices in England and Scotland, including those located in supermarkets, national and regional chains, and independent outlets.

The researchers asked for routine eye tests and those who wore glasses said they had lost them so they could not be used for reference.

The tests were then judged by a panel of experts appointed by Which?.

When registrants do fall below the minimum standards for competence or conduct, we take appropriate and timely action, and increasingly provide support to help them meet those standards General Optical Council

The reasons for wrong prescriptions included missed tests such as a retinoscopy, which measures the strength of the glasses needed, and the Jackson cross cylinder test, which measures astigmatism - a condition which means vision is blurred at a distance.

The poor tests were down to 10 optometrists failing to ask whether the researchers had headaches, while others did not ask about family history of problems, Which? said.

However, none of the practices tried to prescribe glass or contact lenses to the two researchers who did not have eyesight problems.

According to guidelines issued by the College of Optometrists, "it is for the practitioner to satisfy him/herself that procedures are included or excluded according to the patient's clinical need".

"There cannot be a one-size fits all approach to the eye test," a spokesperson from the college added.

Minimum length

There was also no relation between quality of test and price, with some people paying up to £40 and others as little as £10.

But the length of the examination was important. According to the Which? panel of experts, a minimum of 20 minutes is required - and if you are older or have a history of health problems, at least 30 minutes.

While the average was 23 minutes, 14 visits lasted under 20 minutes and two just 10 minutes.

Consumers should check the length of the test before booking an appointment, Which? said, while demanding the GOC carry out regular spot checks.

The GOC said it did not have the powers to do so, but stressed that it did carry out regular inspections of every institution providing courses and assessments in optometry.

A spokesperson said: "When registrants do fall below the minimum standards for competence or conduct, we take appropriate and timely action, and increasingly provide support to help them meet those standards."