Optometrists slate 'ad hoc' payment system for children's eye tests

The eye care programme for treating children over the age of eight is “ad hoc” at best and needs immediate attention according to local opticians. Pic. iStock

A patchwork system of payments for children’s eye tests means some parents have this covered by the HSE while others do not, Optometry Ireland has warned.

A scheme whereby children’s eyes are tested or glasses prescribed at community optometrists, instead of directly through the HSE, has never been standardised, Martin O’Brien said.

“While waiting for the Government to roll this out, various different managers in the HSE, in different areas, started their own, ad-hoc schemes,” Mr O’Brien said.

“The problem with those ad-hoc schemes is that they are rolled out in local areas and paid for through each local budget. Some of those areas wrote to practices and said, ‘We expect you to provide examinations to these children for free’.”

Optometry Ireland’s chair of education and continuing professional development said some optometrists are unable to keep covering these costs and others are facing delays in getting paid.

Earlier this week, a mother contacted RTÉ’s Liveline, saying her optometrist had stopped accepting State vouchers. Mr O’Brien is aware of similar situations and expects this topic to feature at its AGM on Sunday in Drogheda.

This is the first problem with this patchwork approach. Some of the (areas) implied to practices that this was an agreed part of the scheme, even though the association has never agreed with these ad-hoc schemes.

Optometry Ireland has urged the HSE to apply a standardised payment scheme similar to how care for adults with medical cards is reimbursed.

An additional problem is some HSE areas do not cover complex care, and he said: “Obviously, those children with special needs are at the biggest risk if they don’t have proper glasses.”

A further complication is when a HSE manager changes jobs or takes maternity leave, the ad-hoc scheme can stop. Mr O’Brien described it as “awful” having to tell a parent they must pay or contribute more this year than last year for this reason.

The HSE has indicated delays may be linked to the move to an Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS).

“The HSE acknowledges that the current delays are causing real problems for some and we apologise sincerely to suppliers for whom inconvenience or difficulties are being caused,” a spokeswoman said.

She also said suppliers have been informed of the new paperwork required for this system.

“The processing of invoices for some suppliers continues to be delayed due to a significant number of invoices which do not reference an official PO (Purchase Order) or Goods Received Note (GRN),” she said.

“All invoices that are missing essential PO or GRN information require manual validation and compliance checks to allow them to be processed in the new system and this has led to the delays.”