Supporting your vision at home

Royal Voluntary Service is partnering with Specsavers to raise awareness of the free NHS-funded home eye tests. If you or someone you know is unable to visit a store unaccompanied due to short term or long term physical or mental illness/disability, a Specsavers optician will come to you instead.

We hope that people with concerns with their eyesight, carers and families, find this guide useful. Print this page or our leaflet Free NHS-funded home eye test to give to someone you know or use the share button on the right of this page.

For more infomation or to book a home visit, call 0800 652 5750 or visit specsavers.co.uk/home-eye-tests

Specsavers home visits

Specsavers home visiting service means you can have an eye test from the comfort of your own home.

Store-quality service delivered at home

Home eye tests from Specsavers are carried out with the same care and attention you would find in-store and are funded by the NHS if you are eligible.

You can request a home visit for yourself or on behalf of someone else and they'll go to homes, care homes or sheltered accommodation. The process is simple and once they have checked your eligibility, an experienced home visiting optician will visit you at a convenient time for you.

If the eye test shows you need glasses, the visiting optician will be able to talk to you about the offers available to you. You may also be entitled to NHS support with help towards the cost of your glasses.

Who can use the home visit service?

To qualify in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, you must be unable to visit an optician unaccompanied due to physical or mental illness or disability, (which can be short-term) and also be any of the following:

• aged 60 or over
• registered blind or partially sighted
• diagnosed with diabetes or glaucoma
• considered to be at risk of glaucoma, as advised by an optician
• aged 40 or over and your mother, father, brother, sister, son or daughter has been diagnosed with glaucoma
• receiving benefit (Income Support, Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or Pension Credit Guarantee Credit)
• entitled to, or named on, a valid NHS tax credit exemption certificate
• on a low income and named on a valid HC2 (full help) or HC3 (partial help) certificate
• eligible for an NHS Complex Lens Voucher (the optician will advise on the entitlement).

You will need to sign an NHS form during the home eye test explaining that you are unable to visit an optician unaccompanied because of your physical or mental illness or disability (which can be short term).

NHS support

You may also be entitled to NHS support with help towards the cost of your glasses and are also under no obligation to buy Specsavers glasses after the eye test.

In Scotland

All residents of Scotland are entitled to a free NHS eye examination (funded by the Scottish Government), and those who cannot leave their home unaccompanied due to physical or mental illness or disability can have their eye examination provided at their normal place of residence.

Because Specsavers provide free NHS-funded home eye tests, there are certain criteria you must meet before they visit you. Please ring 0800 652 5750 if you’re not sure whether you fit the criteria or not, a member of the Specsavers team will be happy to chat.

Please exercise your common sense when considering this guide and whether to take any of the steps that may be suggested in it. Whilst we have taken reasonable care to ensure that any factual information is accurate and complete, most of the information in this guide is based on our views and opinions (and sometimes the views and opinions of the people or organisations we work with). As a result, we cannot make any promises about the accuracy or the completeness of the information and we don’t accept any responsibility for the results of your reliance on it.