Follow-up with a local optometrist

After cataract surgery, you have an appointment with an optometrist in your local area. This is instead of a hospital follow-up appointment.

An optometrist is trained to recognise abnormalities in your eyes.

Having your follow-up with a community optometrist means you get the same standard of care without needing to visit the hospital.

You will need this appointment even if your eye feels OK.

This appointment needs to be with a minor eye conditions scheme (MECS) provider.

MECS allows you to have your eyes assessed and treated through your local optometrist. This means that you can be seen by an eye specialist at a time and location that's convenient for you.

How to make an appointment

Within 5 days following your cataract surgery, please phone a MECS provider that is local to you.

You only need your discharge letter to make your appointment.

Choose a provider from the list, even if the optician you usually visit is not listed.

Tell the optometrist that you have just had cataract surgery and would like to make an appointment for your post-operative check.

Your appointment will be 4 to 6 weeks after your operation. By this time, you should have finished your course of eye drops.

Do not drive or cycle to this appointment, as you might need to have tests that can affect your vision.

During the follow-up appointment

This appointment is different to a routine eye test that you might have for glasses.

The optometrist:

• checks your eye to make sure it is healing well
• checks your vision and does an eye test

They tell you if you need glasses or not.

What to bring with you

When you go to your appointment, please bring your:

• discharge letter
• glasses or contact lenses that you have been using

You are given a discharge letter when you leave hospital. The discharge letter has information about your operation.

If you cannot find your discharge letter, please call the hospital admissions team on 020 7188 4308 as soon as you realise your documents are missing. The team will give you another discharge pack, which you can collect.

After your follow-up appointment

If your eye is healing and you do not need any more treatment, you will be discharged.

If you need cataract surgery on your other eye, the MECS optometrist will tell the hospital. The hospital will send you a date for your second eye cataract surgery, as well as all the instructions that you will need.

If the optometrist has any concerns, they will refer you back to the hospital to be seen by a specialist.

The optometrist will send all the information about your recovery after surgery back to the hospital eye clinic electronically, through a secure connection. It's added to your hospital records.

Accredited MECS optometrists

You need to contact an optician from this list to make your appointment, even if your usual optician is not listed.

This list was last updated in August 2022. For practices that might have been added since, please visit www.mecs-sel.co.uk

You can also view the list of MECS opticians on a map.