Eastbourne optician working during Covid 19

An optician based in Eastbourne town centre has been delivering vital services to key workers and vulnerable people during the most difficult conditions.
The friendly team helped in many waysThe friendly team helped in many ways
The friendly team helped in many ways

While routine eye appointments – such as regular testing – were suspended during lockdown, the team at Botts in Grove Road, which is the oldest independent in Eastbourne, developed a system to deliver services where they were most needed.

To help ease the burden on the NHS some of the team at the practice devised a three pronged approach to help.

They took over some medical work normally done in hospital, such as follow-up eye care for people who had damaged their eyes. This helped keep numbers down in hospital, but also saved patients who were worried about the coronavirus from visiting a busy outpatients department.

Botts is in Grove Road, EastbourneBotts is in Grove Road, Eastbourne
Botts is in Grove Road, Eastbourne

The team offered an emergency replacement or repair service to all NHS and key workers in the area, to ensure they could keep working if they broke their glasses.

Adam explained: “If anyone knew their prescription was stable, or was only slightly changed, the team were able to make up fresh glasses for them without the face-to-face contact, which we couldn’t do in the early stages of the pandemic. We wanted to help our key workers who were doing so much for us all.”

But perhaps the most welcome service they provided was well-being outreach to the vulnerable and elderly, as Adam explained. “Right from the start the team were tasked with calling any of our customers aged 80 or over regularly, not for eye checks, but simply to check they were okay, if they needed anything, or even just to have a chat.

“For some people living alone they suddenly lost all contact with the outside community, so we felt it was important to give them a call. If they did have a problem with their glasses – a loose arm or missing lens – we were able to take the solution to them, to keep them safe.”

You can book an appointment for an eye exam nowYou can book an appointment for an eye exam now
You can book an appointment for an eye exam now

That meant visiting them at home and doing a socially distanced repair.

He added: “When you are stuck at home then reading your paper every day, doing the sudoku or watching TV might be how you fill your time. If your glasses break you are suddenly cut off from all of that, which can be devastating.

“What we were able to give people during lockdown was our time. We went out to visit one lady who simply needed a screw replacing in her glasses. A simple job for us, which would normally take five minutes, but we stood in her garden and we chatted through the window for two hours!”

The team all wear full PPE – gloves, masks, faceshields and aprons – to protect staff and customers.

Now restrictions have eased slightly the team at Botts are still offering this community service to those who need it, but other customers can visit the practice and have routine eye tests and fittings again.

Now they are all back in the business, our optometrist Raj, (who has 20 years experience), cluster manager Adam and optical assistant James at Botts are offering a full NHS service for all ages, with free frames for those entitled to them, as well as a full range of designer frames.

To find out more visit Botts at 4a Grove Road, Eastbourne, or call 01323 727782.