Law change should mean fewer delays for ophthalmologist appointments

Getting glasses should become easier from today due to new measures aimed at shortening the wait to see an ophthalmologist.

In France, ophthalmologists rather than opticians carry out eye tests and prescribe spectacles, but their waiting lists can be very long – the average is 85 days.

However, the new measures introduced on October 17 give opticians more prescribing powers, and also allow for extended and emergency prescriptions.

Specifically, under the application of a law passed on January 26:

• Opticians are now authorised to renew and adapt prescriptions for contact lenses, if patients have a prescription for less than three years (or one year for patients under 16). For this to be effective, an ophthalmologist must not have opposed a possible renewal.
• In emergencies, such as the loss or breakage of corrective glasses for short or long-sightedness and astigmatism, an optician will be allowed to deliver new glasses without a prescription. The new law states that this will be possible in an emergency when no medical solution is available.
• For certain patients, prescriptions can now be extended to five years. Until now, it was possible to get new glasses without going back to see an ophthalmologist if you had a prescription dated less than three years previously (or one year for those under 16). From today, this time frame has been extended to five years for those aged 16-42.
• Orthoptists, who assist ophthalmologists, will also be able to carry out certain functions without a prescription, but the implementing law on this has not yet been published.

This map, created by ophthalmology group Point Vision, shows delays in ophthalmologist appointments across the country – with blue being less than one month; green, one to three months; orange, three to six months; red, six to nine months and grey, longer than nine months.

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