5 year old has lost his glasses - do we have to pay for replacements?

[cgksheff]

What happens if a child breaks or loses their glasses?

 

Children under the age of 16 can get help from the NHS if their glasses are damaged or lost. You can go to any optician who does NHS eye tests and get a repair or replacement form (GOS 4). You will be asked to make a statement about what happened, and the optician will give you a voucher to help with the cost. If you go to a different optician from the one who provided the glasses in the first place, you will need to take a copy of the original spectacle prescription with you.

 

Children aged 16 and over are only entitled to help if the loss or damage of their glasses was caused by illness. Your optician can tell you how to get help.

 

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Yourchildshealthandsafety/YourChildsHealth/DG_10026139

 

 

 

GOS 4

[buddysbuddy]

for a definitive answer phone your optician they are sure to know the answer to your question.

[kimba]

Hi, My 5 year old has lost his glasses, he has had them about 2 months, will optitions give me a replacement voucher or will I have to pay for a new set, any thoughts would be appreciated

 

Thanks

 

God i bet you wish you had never asked dont you with this lot!

So pathetic!

Medussa you hit the nail on the head,My nephew was forever losing his glasses and getting replacements,I guess this is why the cost is very minimal for the nhs glasses.

[medusa]

I never lost my glasses, but that was mainly because I'm so short sighted that I never took them off long enough to lose them!

 

They get damaged when you're at school and when you play or do PE though, and the alternative is to stop all children who wear glasses from doing anything remotely physical, even jumping on their own bed at home, which is patently silly.

 

There is no charge for medicines or dental care for children and that also applies to all medical appliances (whether that's glasses, hearing aids or whatever else).

[artisan]

That you can just keep getting them for free.

 

Are you suggesting that a childs eyesight should be charged for?

Children are our future, without them the world ends.

Our young must be looked after at all costs.

[cgksheff]

for a definitive answer phone your optician they are sure to know the answer to your question.

 

The definitive answer has been given on here already and then confirmed from the horse's mouth in the post immediately before yours.

[Toni1001]

Wow, Thanks for the responses i have got, i went to vision express and they were very helpful, just have to pay for the frames again

sorry if i have stired up a lot of anger in some people.

 

Thanks

[emmajonuz]

martin kemps are really good you shouldent have to buy his glasses untill there reach 16

[HeadingNorth]

Are you suggesting that a childs eyesight should be charged for?

 

 

It would be annoying to find out that some child somewhere has had thirty-eight pairs of glasses in two months because he loses them every other day; but I seriously doubt that such cases are much of a drain on NHS resources, if they exist at all.

 

Expecting a child to go two whole years without losing a pair of spectacles is being optimistic in the extreme.

[Dark Moomin]

Also, as children grow their eyesight can change quite rapidly I would imagine, requiring new prescriptions quite often in some cases - just another reason why for some parents this would be a very expensive necessity if they had to pay the full cost.

 

And aren't I right in thinking they are only free if you have the very basic NHS frames, any other frames need to be paid for? Though the nhs ones are much better than they were in my youth!