Specsavers is the only high street brand that offers a nationwide home visit service, and with our specially trained visiting opticians and audiologists, your experience will be second to none. While your home test may differ a little from what you’d experience in-store, we’re proud to maintain the same high standards and quality of care.
What are Home Visits?
We understand that not everyone is able to travel to visit their local optician or audiologist. That’s why for those who are eligible, Specsavers can provide a free NHS-funded eye test or hearing test in private homes, care homes or sheltered accommodations.
Our mobile team provide essential care, from routine eye or hearing tests to updating glasses prescriptions, for those who are unable to visit a store unaccompanied, in the comfort of their own homes. We make sure that your home visit is tailored to your specific needs, and conducted with the same care and attention that you would expect in one of our stores.
Who is eligible for a Specsavers Home Visit?
Anyone who is unable to leave home unaccompanied may be eligible for an NHS-funded home visit.
We understand that if you have a physical or mental illness or disability, you might be unable to leave home without assistance for an in-store test. This can also be true for people who are blind or partially sighted, older (usually those aged over 60), or have conditions such as arthritis, stroke or dementia, meaning that a home visit is an essential part of staying healthy. We also see younger people who are vulnerable and cannot leave their homes unaccompanied due to medical reasons.
There are a few criteria that someone needs to meet to qualify for our home visits service.
As most of the work we do is funded by the NHS, you first need to qualify for an NHS eye or hearing test, so this includes the normal categories of receiving certain state benefits or having glaucoma or diabetes, etc. Find out more about our eligibility criteria here.
Home Visits for care homes
Many of the people we see live in care homes. Eye and hearing tests are usually organised by the manager of the care home, typically for a number of residents. For more information on this service, visit our care home page.
There are so many people in need of home eyecare or hearing services that don’t even know it exists. If you or someone you know is in need of a home visit, our visiting opticians are here to help.
Why choose Specsavers?
- High-quality home care — at Specsavers, the care we provide doesn’t stop at the end of your test. We pride ourselves on providing ongoing, high-quality care for our customers, managing your prescriptions from home, and updating them as and when they need changing or replacing.
- Alzheimer’s and dementia-friendly — It can be confusing for people with dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and other memory-loss illnesses to have someone unfamiliar in their homes. To reduce any anxiety, Specsavers have partnered with Dementia Friends (an Alzheimer's society initiative) to ensure that each of our visiting opticians are trained to support the specific needs of people with dementia and Alzheimer’s.
- Convenient and responsive services — with more optical laboratories than any other care home service provider, we pride ourselves on the speed at which we can deliver your new prescription glasses to your home. We will send out your new glasses within three weeks of receiving your order, which is convenient for those who are unable to collect them from our stores.
- Services tailored to your needs — our home visittests are designed to fit around your individual needs. If you have trouble moving about your home or are bedbound, there’s no need to worry. Our visiting opticians and audiologists can conduct your test where you feel most comfortable.
- Support for specific eye conditions — just as we would in-store, our visiting opticians are able to test for specific eye conditions at home and offer you support to help manage them. Our visiting opticians can conduct a number of tests for glaucoma and diabetic eye conditions within the home.
- Specialist equipment and technology — we use many of the instruments you are used to seeing in-store that have been designed specifically for use in the home. For example, your optician will use an electronic test chart or iPad to assess your vision, or make use of portable equipment that can be easily used within your home.
Our glasses and offers
We have a wide range of different styles, colours and brands of glasses available for our home visits customers to choose from and special offers too. Find out more.
Book a Home Visit
To book a home visit, call us directly or fill out our online form. All the details can be found here.
An appointment may also be made by a carer, family member or anyone representing the individual. If the third party making the appointment wanted to know the outcome of the home visit, then we would need consent from the customer (in-line with data protection regulations) unless they are unable to give it.
