Proving just how valuable eyecare really is as an employee benefit for fleets, Specsavers Corporate Eyecare has today revealed that in 2016, its optometrists helped to spot symptoms of 120 life or sight-threatening conditions.
Jim Lythgow, director of strategic alliances at Specsavers Corporate Eyecare, explains: “Optometrists often spot signs or symptoms of a serious condition during an eye test and refer the patients straight to hospital, meaning they are treated quickly. An optometrist can’t diagnose something like a brain tumour but they might spot symptoms like a swollen optic nerve or a shadow that shows up on the fundus camera. We also have case studies where opticians identify symptoms of high blood pressure, or that someone has had a stroke.”
Intracranial hypertension is another relatively common condition of which opticians can detect symptoms. Intracranial hypertension is a build-up of pressure around the brain, which can be life-threatening and a risk to sight if it remains undiagnosed and the underlying causes are not treated.
Jim Lythgow continues: “It just goes to show quite how vital eye tests can be. The numbers of lives or sight saved is actually a conservative figure as there may be more customers who were referred for further treatment. Employers have a huge role to play here, as eyecare is a simple and very cost-effective employee benefit. By offering eyecare, employers are likely to actually be saving themselves money when you consider the repercussions of conditions that may otherwise go undetected and untreated. What more valuable benefit could an employer offer than one that could help save lives and sight?”
