Optometry for residential aged care
Scheduled clinic days for residential aged care homes, supported accommodation and group homes across South East Queensland.
Scheduled clinic days for residential aged care homes, supported accommodation and group homes across South East Queensland.
Residents pay only for glasses, and only if they choose to buy them. A complete pair is $149.
Every resident seen receives a comprehensive eye examination. A screening identifies who might need referring. An examination produces a diagnosis, a prescription, a management plan, and a record that can be filed against the resident's clinical notes.
Distance and near acuity, refraction, and a spectacle prescription where one is needed. Existing glasses are checked against the current prescription.
Intraocular pressure, optic nerve assessment and visual fields where the resident can perform the test. Glaucoma has no symptoms in its early stages, so it is found on examination rather than reported.
Assessment of lens clarity and how far it has progressed, with a referral to ophthalmology where surgery is likely to help.
Examination of the retina and macula, including retinal imaging, for macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and other retinal change.
Retinal review for residents with diabetes, with imaging kept on file so change can be compared visit to visit.
Dry eye, lid disease and irritation, which are common in residents on multiple medications and are frequently reported as watery eyes rather than dry ones.
The examination happens in a purpose built clinic vehicle parked at the facility. The instruments are installed and calibrated, so residents who can walk out to the vehicle get the same assessment they would get in a shopfront practice.
Where the facility would prefer us to work indoors, or where residents cannot leave the building, we work from a room you provide and attend the rooms of anyone who is bed bound. Let us know which suits your building and we will plan the visit accordingly.
Many homes already have an optometry provider. The gaps we are most often asked to cover are residents missed on the last round, an urgent review that cannot wait for the next scheduled visit, and glasses that were prescribed but never fitted.
We can take individual residents rather than the whole home. Contact us with the detail and we will arrange a visit.
Before the visit you confirm which residents are to be seen and who the person responsible is for each one. Consent is recorded per resident. Nobody is examined on a general facility approval.
We arrive inside the agreed window and set up without needing staff time. Mobile residents are seen first, then we work through the rooms.
A full hour is allowed per resident, which covers the examination and, where glasses are needed, choosing and measuring them. Nothing is dispensed without the resident or their representative agreeing.
Written reports follow the visit. Glasses are delivered and fitted on a return visit, adjusted on the spot, and the fitting is recorded.
Every resident seen generates a written report covering what was assessed, what was found, the prescription if one was issued, what could not be assessed and why, and what happens next. The report is written to be filed against the resident's clinical record.
Reports go to the care team, to the resident's GP, and to the person responsible or an enduring power of attorney where consent covers it. Referrals to ophthalmology are written on the day rather than posted later.
Before a first visit we send your compliance team our AHPRA registration, a certificate of currency for professional indemnity insurance, and current clearance documentation.
Download the capability statement, a two page summary of clinical scope, reporting, billing and clearances for your compliance file.
The full eyewear range travels with the clinic vehicle. Around 100 frame styles, and a complete pair is $149 including single vision lenses, $199 for two pairs and $229 for three. Prices are published on the site.
Residents who need a stronger prescription, a multifocal or a coating are told the upgrade price before they decide. A 12 month frame warranty and a 30 day prescription warranty apply the same way they would for any other patient.
Nothing is dispensed without the resident or their representative agreeing to it, and no resident has to buy glasses to have their eyes examined.
Somewhere to park the clinic vehicle, or a room with a power point and a door that closes.
Who is being seen, and who the person responsible is for each resident.
Whatever the resident is wearing now, so we can check it against the new prescription.
One staff member we can find if a question comes up. We do not need a staff escort for each resident.
We work around meal times, medication rounds and activities. Tell us the windows to avoid.
Behaviour support plans, infection control requirements, sign in procedures, lift or access limits.
Families and people responsible can enrol a resident directly. Enrolment is free, there is no obligation to buy anything, and we record the due date so the examination happens every year without anyone having to remember it.
Point families at it and you will not have to field the question yourself. It also means consent is established before we arrive.
What to ask a visiting optometry provider before the first visit: scope of examination, clearances, consent, reporting and eyewear pricing. Ten questions to take to any provider, including the one you already use.
We reply within one business day with a confirmed date and an arrival window. A first visit to a new home is usually scheduled within the month.