New focus for Tettenhall opticians
A new chapter is beginning for an independent opticians in the Black Country who are still on hand to help patients.
Sheward Opticians, in Tettenhall, has been revamped and is now Samantha Hague Optometry.
Samantha and her team want to remind patients that they are remaining open during the current national lockdown for patients.
She said: "Because we work alongside the NHS, we are classed as essential service so we are open as usual.
"If we were to close opticians there is a risk of hospital eye services being overwhelmed.
"We are prioritising essentials and emergencies, but we are open for anyone who needs us."
There is a Covid-secure practice in place to ensure that the opticians is safe for patients and staff.
Samantha added: "It has been challenging in the early days, we have had to get to grips with new things like PPE.
"We operate a locked door policy, seeing each patient for an hour at a time with a one in one out system.
"Our patients have been telling us that they feel comfortable and that they are actually enjoying the detailed, personalised service.
"We have also installed protective screens and adapted lots of equipment.
"One of my pieces of equipment allows me to stay back and operate the lens machine from a distance, and with the use of camera we don't need to get as close to see into their eyes.
"Our Covid-secure measures are working well.
"Statistics show that 1 million people in the UK are now living with preventable eye disease, which could have been avoided if they would have had their eyes tested.
"This can be quite serious and people can go blind, so it's not just selling glasses, it's about eye health too."
Samantha lives in the nearby Staffordshire village of Pattingham with her husband and two sons, and grew up in Tettenhall before studying optometry at Aston University in Birmingham.
