Optometrists and Opticians

An optician is in business to sell and fit frames and spectacles. An optician employs an optometrist to assess eyesight and write prescriptions for lenses.

An eyesight test involves a patient reading a series of letters and symbols under an optometrist’s supervision. The optometrist records the eye sight results and writes a prescription for lenses or other optical treatment.

The patient is entitled to take the prescription and go to any optician’s shop to have an optometrist make and insert the lenses in frames. Many patients have the lenses made and inserted in frames in the place where the eyesight test is taken.

NHS eyesight tests are free to schoolchildren and students under 19, some welfare recipients, and anyone aged 40 who has a close relative with glaucoma. If you qualify for free eyesight tests and reduced costs for lenses, you pay for frames and spectacles.