Letters: Getting glasses in France can be a nightmare
Connexion reader has struggled to get an ophthalmologist appointment
The French healthcare system and private insurance offer generous eye care once you have a prescription
Terelyuk / Shutterstock
To the Editor,
The medical services where I live in France are excellent 鈥� except when it comes to glasses.
By law, eye tests must be carried out by an ophthalmologist, not an optometrist. But getting an appointment is almost impossible.
Before Covid, after months of searching, my wife and I finally saw an ophthalmologist.
The prescription I received produced useless glasses; the optician blamed the doctor, the doctor blamed the optician. I went back to my old UK glasses from 2011.
Post-Covid, I found a clinic two hours away. The examination was actually done by an optometrist, then an ophthalmologist appeared and suddenly diagnosed me with 鈥渟evere cataracts,鈥� pressing me to sign for costly operations.
I declined and was refused a prescription until I wrote a formal complaint. I later discovered the clinic was a front for a private hospital specialising in cataract surgery.
A second ophthalmologist gave me a new prescription, but again the resulting glasses were useless. Under guarantee, they were remade to match my old UK pair 鈥� which still work better than anything produced here.
My eyesight is otherwise fine; I can even pass the UK driving eyesight test without glasses. But after all this, it seems I鈥檒l have to return to Britain just to get a decent pair.
K.H., by email
How difficult have you found it to get a prescription for glasses in France? Does the system work well? Let us know at letters@connexionfrance.com
