Obtaining Children’s Glasses (via the Hospital Eye Service)

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Children are tested once a year for glasses at the hospital unless the eye care professional advises otherwise.
A voucher (HESP1) will be given to you if a new prescription is required when the doctor tests your child’s eyes for glasses.
The voucher is issued to children under 16, or under 18 and in full-time education. It is worth a fixed amount of money to help towards the cost of purchasing the glasses. The amount of money is dependent on the strength and / or type of lenses needed.
There is no entitlement to a spare pair of glasses. However, you may purchase a spare pair from your Optician.
If the doctor finds there has been no change in your child’s prescription then no voucher will be issued.
Children age 5 and over can attend their own optician for the test for glasses if able to do so.

The voucher must be taken to a registered Optician. It is illegal for any other person to dispense glasses to children.
The voucher is valid for six months from the date of the sight test.
Some Opticians will supply glasses within the voucher value with no extra charge.
Your local Optician may be more convenient as children’s glasses often break and need repairing. Expensive frames are not advisable.
Take your child with you when you order the glasses and when you collect them. Glasses cannot be dispensed unless the child is present.
The Optician will advise you on the best type of frame for the child and the safest type of lenses. Very small children requiring special frames and lenses will be given an extra voucher.
Once the child has the glasses, they should wear them all the time unless otherwise advised by the Eye Doctor, Orthoptist or Optician.

Go to your Optician who will repair or replace the glasses. They have a form, GOS4 that they use to do this. If the glasses were free, so are the repair and replacement. A voucher from the hospital is not required for this service.
The Optician may ask you when the last test for glasses was done at the hospital. This is because the prescription lasts for 1 year. The Optician would not want to replace glasses that are out of date.
If it is coming to the end of the year for which the prescription is valid and the glasses need repairing or replacing, then the Optician may request that your child has a test for glasses at their practice or at the hospital. We do try and book appointments for children once a year at the hospital but sometimes we get very busy and it is not possible to get the test done exactly within the year. It is perfectly acceptable to let the Optician test your child’s eyes.
If your Optician tests your child’s eyes, please bring the prescription with you to the next hospital eye appointment. The Optician will give you the statement of the prescription which is a form called GOS2.
An Optician can refuse to repair or replace glasses. If this happens then you are entitled to go to a different Optician. The new Optician can repair the glasses by either reading the prescription from the current glasses or requesting the prescription from the hospital if it is still in date.

For further information, please contact the Orthoptic Department: