Posts in category: News

When your optometrist referrs you for NHS cataract surgery, you will be contacted by DORA to help arrange an appointment at your preferred choice of hospital. Here’s what will happen…

• Within a week of your referral for cataract surgery, you will receive a phone call from a semi-automated system called DORA.

• You will get advance notification of when this call will be via an SMS text message.

• Dora, the NHS’s automated telephone assistant, will gather your medical history and preferred treatment location. Dora will call from 0118 227637 (saving this number in your contacts may help you to recognise the call).

• Dora will share your information with your chosen hospital or clinic, who will follow up with you.

You may like to get an idea of your hospital preferences before speaking to Dora – if so the NHS have created a “Find my Hospital” post code search https://www.myplannedcare.nhs.uk/find-my-hospital/postcode-search/

• Enter your home postcode in the box provided
• Select your specialty as Opthalmology
• Click Search

(if n/a is written in the wait time box, the hospital may not offer Opthalmology services)

You can speak naturally to Dora- just like you would a nurse.

Have questions or comments?
Visit: https://www.bucksoxonberksw.icb.nhs.uk/your-health/cataract-surgery-your-choices/
or Email: bobicb.plannedcare@nhs.net

If you would prefer to pay, or have health insurance, to be assessed and treated privately, please let your optometrist know, by emailing us at eyecare@patriciahayseldenandpartners.co.uk

Saturday 5th October 2024

Saturday 19th October 2024

Saturday 2nd November 2024

Saturday 16th November 2024

Saturday 30th November 2024

Saturday 14th December 2024

When making an appointment please let us know if you prefer to attend on a weekend date.

It has come to our attention, that the Oxfordshire Diabetic Eye Screening Programme (ODESP) are issuing fixed appointments for retinal screening, at scattered Oxfordshire venues, rather than sending you the list of venues to choose from.

We would like to reassure you that Patricia Hayselden and Partners are still actively providing the retinal screening service for ODESP, so you can still have your appointment with us, in Wallingford.

If you would prefer this, when your letter arrives, simply phone ODESP,  ask them to cancel the appointment that they’ve sent you and inform them that you will contact Patricia Hayselden and Partners, to arrange your own appointment.  We can offer a wider choice of days and times, for your convenience.

Many of our patients find it is convenient to have their main sight-test eye examination at the same time as the screening appointment, so please let us know, when you contact us, whether the appointment is just for the ODESP screening, or a combined appointment with your NHS eye examination.

We look forward to seeing you again soon.  Remember not to drive, as pupil dilating drops are likely to be used, which can cause some blurring for a few hours afterwards.

We’re delighted to announce that we’ve partnered with OcuPlan. We’re now part of the largest joined-up network of optometrists and ophthalmologists in the UK, collaborating to provide affordable, accessible care for patients with long-term eye conditions. If you or anyone you know is living with glaucoma, AMD or diabetic retinopathy and want added peace of mind that your sight is being protected, visit ocuplan.co.uk to find out more, or speak to one of our representatives in store.

You can also request a free home information pack by visiting https://dashboard.ocuplan.co.uk/homepack

We have joined a contact lens recycling programme and request that you bring in the plastic and foil from your contact lens packaging, along with your used lenses, at regular intervals. Please continue to recycle the cardboard packaging at home.

As COVID and other seasonal viruses are still prevalent in Oxfordshire, we ask that you bring a mask (we can supply one to you if required) – to wear during the parts of the examination where we need to get close to you.

To protect you, the optometrist will continue to wear a mask. Please let us know if you would like all staff to wear one whilst you are in the practice.

We ask that you rearrange your appointment, if you have current symptoms that could be contagious, such as a new fever, cough, runny nose.

Our practice team is available Monday to Friday (and some Saturdays) to look after you, for all aspects of your eye care requirements.

Due to a large backlog of reminder letters, we are significantly behind schedule with sending these out to you. Please do not wait for a letter – just get in touch when you would like to see us. If you feel that you are having any difficulties, or if we have not seen you within the past 2 years – please contact our friendly reception staff on 01491 835466, who will be able to check your records and arrange for your next appointment to be scheduled into our diary, at the earliest opportunity.

We continue to invest in the latest technology, most recently purchasing an OCT scanner and camera.  OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) captures a 3D cross-sectional scan of the back of your eye as well as taking a high definition retinal image. This helps us to monitor and detect any changes and abnormalities, which may indicate early signs of disease, such as macular degeneration and glaucoma.

Private Eye Examinations
Standard – £46
Premium (Digital photography) – £59
Premium Plus (OCT & Digital photography) – £72

NHS Entitled Examinations
Standard – no charge
Premium (Digital photography) – £22
Premium Plus (OCT & Digital photography) – £42

After 12 years with the practice, optometrist Nita Mahalingham has moved away from Oxfordshire, so will no longer be working with us. We wish her much happiness as her family begin a new life in Dubai.

We welcome Mri Bali to our practice, a full time optometrist with a specialism in Orthoptics.
We are also delighted to say part time receptionist Katie Ansel has now joined us full time.

World Sight Day is a national fundraising campaign to raise funds to assist with eye care in under developed countries. There are more than 600 million people in the world who are blind or visually impaired because they do not have access to eye examinations or glasses. The World Sight Day Challenge, which Patricia Hayselden and Partners is taking part in, aims to address avoidable blindness caused by uncorrected refractive error – simply the need for an eye exam and glasses.

During October, our practice is donating some of every eye examination fee (paid either by yourself or the NHS), to raise money for Optometry Giving Sight and Vision Aid Overseas – two charities working together, to help provide eye examinations and spectacles in developing countries.
Just £5 can help provide an eye examination and spectacles to those in need. We are aiming to help 200 people.

We know that preventable blindness is a solvable problem. That is why every contribution is meaningful and can help to transform a life. Last year, tens of thousands of children, women and men lost everything when tropical cyclone Yolanda smashed into the Philippines. The Optometry Giving Sight organisation helped more than 8000 people by providing them with glasses, restoring their eyesight and enabling them to rebuild.

If you feel able to make a personal donation, please call in and put money into the red collection tin at reception.

See Giving Sight and Vision Aid Overseas for more information