Specsavers Selby has announced a £45,000 investment into an Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) 3D scanner, which will allow the store’s optometrists to undertake Specsavers’ most advanced eye test for customers.
The installation marks the 900th Specsavers store location in the UK and Ireland to have the technology and comes four years after the company announced the commitment to a £35 million pound rollout.
Since 2017, Specsavers stores have been installing OCT scanners, backed up by an extensive training and mentoring programme for all optical colleagues. This nationwide rollout allows most Specsavers optometrists to work with OCT technology.
Mohammed Basharat, who has been the ophthalmic director of Specsavers Selby for 19 years said all the store’s optometrists had completed a seven-module training course to work with OCT.
"An OCT scan helps us to view the health of people’s eyes in greater detail than ever before, by allowing us to see what’s going on beneath the surface.
With OCT, we can spot many underlying, sight-threatening eye diseases, up to four years earlier than traditional techniques and we can spot signs of other diseases like blood pressure problems and brain tumours too.
"It also helps relieve pressure on the NHS because it reduces the number of referrals we need to make."
Mo chose a career in optometry as he wanted to help people with their eye health. "We are so pleased to be able to offer this technology to the Selby community and enhance the customer experience. The team have loved it using it and the feedback from customers so far has been brilliant."
Specsavers clinical services director Giles Edmonds says: "Together with our partners, we’re totally committed to making a positive difference to the lives of everybody – and OCT is central to this.
"Having OCT in the majority of our stores is great news for customers, who love the fact we use the latest technology and it’s also great news for optometrists who want to advance eye care by working with OCT. The completion of our national rollout is proof of our investment into innovating optometry."
More than 4,000 optometrists have completed online training to work with OCT, which consists of eight CET modules from an overview of the technology to disease progression analysis.
OCT is offered when booking an eye test to people aged 25 and over, or if recommended by an optician. The £10 charge for an OCT scan is additional to the standard eye test fee.
