Badenoch’s ‘very little home care and domiciliary visits’ to be addressed by local firm
An Aviemore optician is planning to start home visits for patients in Badenoch and Strathspey, concerned about the lack of such a service here.
Aviemore Opticians have been in Aviemore for more than 18 years but over the last eight or so the team have noticed two things, says practice manager Peter Veen.
“Firstly, we are taking on more emergency cases as the NHS and pharmacists are passing them onto us as a way to reduce appointments and wait times. These people are booking appointments, seeing GP's and taking up their time and then getting told to come here - expecting to be seen immediately when we are by appointment only and are fully booked in advance.
“Secondly - but more importantly - as a patient care-focused practice we aim to try give the best service and help to members of the public. We have noticed that there is very little home care and domiciliary visits happening in the Badenoch area.
“We are still getting a lot of phone calls from people desperate for home visits, because no one does them.
“People get letters through the post offering home visits but when they phone up they say they don’t do the Highlands, as it’s too remote. One recent new patient told us that a certain larger multiple who does visits said they would only come see him if he paid £200 just to come out, not including normal visit fees and glasses.
“It got to the point where we feel we are not able to fully help with patient care in the community as we don’t offer this service and this is the primary reason for expanding the practice and hiring in a new optometrist, primarily to do home visits at least once a week and help out in this area of neglect.
“We now have two ‘optoms’ working in the Badenoch and Strathspey area helping with eye and healthcare access to emergencies to locals and tourists. Once the new one is settled in we will start organising for about three or four months time for offering home visits to those in need.
“Our first step has been to open six days a week for examinations to offer people greater access to eyecare and take into consideration not everyone has the same work days, as the next available eyecare is in inverness from Aviemore, costs us a little more to open six days instead of just doubling the clinics - we were four days per week - but again our primary focus is patient centered care so that’s what matters.”
