Your eye care

If you need an optician in an emergency

The Community Urgent Eyecare Service (CUES) provides urgent assessment, and treatment for sudden onset eye problems such as flashes, floaters, vision loss or minor eye injuries, for people in the Black Country.

What Symptoms Can Be Treated by the Urgent Eyecare Service?

• Red or painful eye or eyelids
• Recently occurring flashes and floaters
• Recent and sudden loss of vision
• Foreign body in the eye

Please note that this service is not an eye test.

This service DOES NOT cover long standing or major eye conditions that are being regularly monitored by your optometrist or hospital eye service, such as cataracts, diabetic retinopathy or glaucoma (including repeat pressure measurements). In such instances you should consult your usual optometrist or hospital eye service directly for advice in the usual way.

Who is this service for?

All adults and children registered with a GP in the Black Country can use the service – and you do not need a GP referral.

Children under 16 years must be accompanied at their appointment by an adult.

How do I access the service?

You can self-refer or be referred / redirected to the service by another health care provider e.g. GP, pharmacist, optician, care navigator, NHS 111, hospital eye service, A&E or MIU.

To self refer find a local optometry practice that offers Community Urgent Eyecare Service appointments.

An appointment will normally be required – whether virtually (telephone or video) or face to face, so please telephone first.

Please do not visit the practice without first booking an appointment. You will be asked some questions about your symptoms to assess your needs. More urgent cases will be seen within 24hrs.

What should I expect when contacting the service?

On contacting the service, the call handler will register your details, check eligibility and arrange a phone call with a qualified optometrist.

The Optometrist will assess your condition remotely by telephone or video consultation resulting in one of the following outcomes:

• Management of the condition over the telephone, providing you with advice/guidance and/or recommending medication, where necessary.
• Where prescribed medication is required, a request will be sent to your GP for this.
• Arrange for you to attend a local Optician for a Face 2 Face appointment for further assessment / treatment of certain conditions e.g. foreign body removal.
• Make an urgent referral to one of the local Hospitals as your condition requires Urgent care in the Hospital Eye Service.
• Make a non-urgent referral to one of the local Hospitals as your condition requires routine care in the Hospital Eye Service.
• Make a referral to your GP, where the Optician has concerns that you may have a systemic condition.

Appointments are available during normal working hours and some practices offer appointments in the evenings and at weekends. Not all practices have an optometrist available every day, but if they don’t, they will be able to find you an alternative appointment nearby.

Find your nearest optometry practice here

For more information, click here to view CUES leaflet.

NHS sights test costs

Some people are entitled to a free NHS sight test or an optical voucher to reduce the cost of glasses or contact lenses.

If you're not eligible for NHS-funded sight tests or optical vouchers, you'll have to cover the costs yourself.