My child needs glasses

az2wp0sye65487

So we found out today that our daughter needs glasses.

Just wondering if there are any entitlements etc. available to us in terms of cost?

We were attending a HSE clinic and after today's appointment I was given a form with her prescription written on it. I never thought to ask about any entitlements Re cost etc.

We're not claiming any social welfare.
Single income family (struggling through life like so many others).

Obviously we'll be getting her glasses ASAP but any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thestones

Millie Broad Ferry wrote: »

So we found out today that our daughter needs glasses.

Just wondering if there are any entitlements etc. available to us in terms of cost?

We were attending a HSE clinic and after today's appointment I was given a form with her prescription written on it. I never thought to ask about any entitlements Re cost etc.

We're not claiming any social welfare.
Single income family (struggling through life like so many others).

Obviously we'll be getting her glasses ASAP but any help would be greatly appreciated.

Yes you can get a voucher from the hse for 50/60 euro off glasses(can't remember exact amount), the clinic should have told you where to go for the form(it will be a local hse centre) you complete a form and it usually then takes a few days to post it out to you, ring the clinic and ask. Specsavers have a 59 euro glassses deal with a second pair for 29 so basically the first pair is free and do get the second pair coz kids break glasses so you need a back up pair!

Also just to add my local specsavers let us order the glasses even though I didn't have voucher yet, she said they only do this for children, by the time glasses were ready I had the voucher so just paid the balance.

az2wp0sye65487

Thestones wrote: »

Yes you can get a voucher from the hse for 50/60 euro off glasses(can't remember exact amount), the clinic should have told you where to go for the form(it will be a local hse centre) you complete a form and it usually then takes a few days to post it out to you, ring the clinic and ask. Specsavers have a 59 euro glassses deal with a second pair for 29 so basically the first pair is free and do get the second pair coz kids break glasses so you need a back up pair!

Also just to add my local specsavers let us order the glasses even though I didn't have voucher yet, she said they only do this for children, by the time glasses were ready I had the voucher so just paid the balance.

Thanks for the info. Will get in touch with them tomorrow. Every little bit helps

Diziet

It depends on the child whether they get things broken or not. Neither of my kids ever broke their glasses, so second pairs were a waste of money. Also worth getting their prescription, including PD and ordering a cheap second pair online as a spare. And don't fall for the Specsavers hard sell on the extras they try to sell you. they are notorious for that. I use a local optician for that reason, and they are no more expensive in fairness.

az2wp0sye65487

My wife called the HSE eye clinic (the one we attended yesterday) this morning to ask about a voucher. The response she got was along the lines of "why didn't you get one while you were here - you'll have to bring the prescription back and we'll give it out after we've seen that you have a prescription from us?" - eh, because we didn't even know such a thing existed, and nobody there bothered to fill us in!

He was fairly 'grumpy' on the phone.

If it was the same guy that was at the reception desk while I was there yesterday, I overheard him speaking quite rudely to a few people who had called in. I also overheard him calling his bank about a loan while he was sitting at the reception desk! :eek:

Anyway, I'll drop in tomorrow morning and get a voucher.

Our daughter is delighted to 'get to have glasses' and wants to see if she can get a pair with either rainbows or unicorns on them! :pac: