If you are reading this, congratulations, you are one of those people who are serious about looking after themselves. In my optical practices I am not trying to cater for everyone, I am wanting to spend time with people like you who are interested in keeping their eyes healthy.

You see, there are many people out there who choose their Optician based on gimmicky offers such as ‘Buy One Get One Free’. I want patients who choose their Optician based on the quality of care they will get for their eyes.

One major thing that is limited in this world is time. Time is finite. I don’t want to waste my time and my staff’s time with people who don’t care about their eyes and are just out bargain hunting for free eye tests and glasses.

I’m serious about eyes. Your vision is a serious business. Think about it, how would your life be like if you lost your vision or it was somehow impaired? As human beings I think we all feel that would not happen to us but I have seen enough people who have not had regular eye tests lose their vision that I know it does happen.

And it’s not just your vision at stake, it’s also your general health. Having an eye test is a very good general health check up to have done every year. An eye test, with the right Optician who invests in the best optical diagnostic equipment in the world can even save your life.

Cancerous tumours inside your eyes, brain tumours, high blood pressure, diabetes, blood clots and the list goes on can all be detected with a good quality eye test.

I say this not to scare you but to inform you. Many people simply don’t realise how important an eye test is. I am on a mission to educate people just what can be achieved with an eye exam. I am not here to try and flog you some “2 for 1” offer.

You may or may not realise all Opticians are not the same. I used to believe all Dentists are the same, they all have the same Dentist chairs, the same utensils to probe around with, the same equipment and give the same fillings for cavities.

How wrong I was! I will tell you a quick story that is relevant to you choosing your Opticians. One day I started to get a severe toothache. I went to a local NHS dentist and they said I needed a filling. The appointment was all very rushed, the dentist seemed stressed and did not have time for any of my questions. I had read about different types of fillings i.e. silver amalgam fillings and ‘white’ fillings. The silver ones contain mercury and are actually banned in Germany and Canada due to the risk of mercury poisoning. 

When I brought up this topic, the Dentist said “Well, I can give you a white filling but it will cost you more and it takes longer to do”. She assumed I did not want to pay extra for a better product and has seemingly not been giving her patients a choice. 

I said I was prepared to pay for it but I was talked out of it by being told a white filling is not as strong (which I have since learnt is not true). I felt it was all down to how quick I could be seen.

And that is how a lot of businesses are, rush, rush, rush. Nobody these days seems to have time anymore.

To cut a long story short, I ended up going back around half a dozen times in pain as the filling did not fix it. I was told I must have a low pain threshold and I would need to get over it!

Thankfully, a friend recommended me to a private dentist. I was given a much more thorough examination including some ‘whiz-bang’ scan that I have never had done before. The result was the last dentist had missed a cavity. I had a large cavity lurking between my wisdom tooth and a molar. I also learnt that you can even get three different grades of white fillings which are all superior to the amalgam ones.

OK, so that’s the end of my rant but what I took away from this is I did not want my Opticians to be like that first Dentist, where everything is rushed and only a basic service is offered.

That’s why in 2020 I invested £50,000 in a special eye scan called the Optomap and a further £45,000 into other high tech diagnostic equipment to give you the best possible eye examination for your vision, eye health and indeed your general health.

Also, most Opticians who work at the big ‘high street chains’ do around 20 tests a day. I know because I was one of them. The trouble with doing 20 eyes tests in 20 mins for each person is that things can get missed, stress creeps in and just having the time to listen to the patient’s symptoms and discuss options on how to improve their vision all goes out of the window. Like it did with my first Dentist.

With eyes a thorough check is very important. As one patient said to me “You can always eat with false teeth but you can’t see with a glass eye!”

That is why I made the decision to only offer people a 45 minute appointment, giving you more than double the time needed. This starts with an initial 15 minute assessment of your eyes using the latest technology, followed my a full 30 minute eye examination. Now you may think this is too long, you may be a busy person, but you have to remember an eye test does not happen every week, it is once a year (or should be if you are serious about your health). In the long run, it will save you time, if any conditions are seen early before damage occurs it will save you time with countless journeys to the eye hospital.

Also, making sure your vision is at its peak can improve your lifestyle from eliminating eyestrain, enjoying reading more, extra sharpness for day-to-day tasks, improving your reaction times when driving and not to mention all the general health benefits you can get.

If you are serious about your eyes and you are prepared to have a 45 minute full eye health examination every year then you are the right patient we are taking on. If you just want a quick basic eye test in and out as fast as possible then you will be best served elsewhere.

I will give you a list of all the checks you will get as part of our detailed eye examination. Some may sound double dutch to you but it will give you an idea of how not all eye tests are the same:

• The Optomap Widefield Retinal Imaging Scan 
• Topography Scan
• Pachymetry Measurement
• Wavefront Autorefraction
• Anterior OCT Scan
• Pupilometry
• Meibography 
• Full Threshold Visual Fields
• Slit Lamp Biomicroscopy
• Imaging Of The Crystalline Lens For Cataract Grading
• Tear Film Analysis
• Focimetry And Varifocal Mapping Of Glasses Using the Visionix VX40

And this is all just to start with before the main eye exam! It usually takes around 15 minutes to do this initial assessment, the technology involved is efficient and painless!

The main eye exam is where you have a full 30 minutes to discuss any concerns and for the Optician to check your vision and give you the best possible vision assessment and correct your eyes to their full potential.

Due to COVID-19 we now use state-of-the-art equipment to carry out the eye test. Rather than using those old heavy glasses that you have to balance on your nose and where the Optician puts lenses in and out, we use what is called the VX45 Automated Phoropter.

Some Opticians do use something similar, it’s basically a machine that you rest your forehead against (no heavy glasses on your nose) and it is controlled by the Optician using a small ‘tablet’ computer that acts as a remote control allowing a 2 metre distance.

The different lenses that you are shown drop into the machine smoothly and you can easily see the difference between lenses rather than the Optician manually adding and removing lenses before your eyes.

Everything is explained along the way, including the results of the tests and you are given a concise summary at the end where you can discuss and ask any questions you want. 

The findings of the eye exam will be provided to you and you will be offered all the different options and a recommendation to which is best for you.

Unlike with my first Dentist story, rather than rushing and not explaining your choices we do the opposite and are very detailed. 

This may not be for you and that is why I created this ‘Enhanced Eye Exam’ report to let you know what to expect.

There are not many places in the UK where the Optician goes into this much detail. My research has found one only one Optician who offers something similar but is based in Marylebone London and charges £250 for the service.

At my practices, we don’t charge £250.

Instead we offer what is called “The Eyecare Plan” which gives you all the checks explained above but with a lot more benefits.

The Eyecare Plan gives you total peace of mind as you will have access to all these checks as many times as needed during the year. However, the real benefit is that you also get so much more value it ends up paying for itself.

Here are the benefits to you:

• Private Eye Exam Every Year (Worth £30)
• Emergency Appointments Whenever You Need Them (Worth £30)
• Optomap Scan (Worth £30)
• Corneal Topography Scan (Worth £30)
• Dry Eye Assessment & Meibography Scan (Worth £30)
• Full Threshold Visual Field Assessment (Worth £30)
• Slit Lamp Biomicroscopy Health Checks (Worth £20)
• Contact Lens Consultations & Aftercare Checks (Worth £60)
• Free Emergency Spare Pair Of Glasses With Every Order (Worth £90)
• 10% Discount On All Spectacle Lenses Including Varifocals

That’s a total value of £350 not including any discount you would also get off your spectacle lenses.

You get £350 of value for £7 per month or £1.62p per week, which I am sure you would spend more than that on bread and milk!

If you are serious about looking after your eyes I want to give you this service to try for free. The proof is in the pudding, I want you to try our enhanced service for free by offering you 3 months free on the eyecare plan.

If the service you receive does not live up to your expectation then you won’t pay a penny, we will cancel the plan straight away and you would have received my service free and we will still be friends!

If you are ready to take action and look after your eyes, call one of my friendly team on 01287 644211 (Loftus) or 01287 650655 (Skelton) and ask for the eyecare plan free trial.

The trial is for a limited time and we can only take on a limited number of patients.Thank you for staying with me until the end of this section. I hope you have found it informative.

Yours Sincerely,

John Prouse

PS. For more information on the enhanced eye exam you get here at Loftus Optical you can watch my video at www.enhancedeyeexam.co.uk