What to Expect at your Appointment
A few days before we are due to see you at Derwent Eye Specialists you will be contacted to remind you that your appointment is coming up. If you have any questions about the location or accessibility of our practice, if you need to change the time or date of your appointment, or if there is anything else that you’d like to discuss, please call or email us or simply come and talk to us in person.
What to Bring to your Appointment
- Referral from your GP, optometrist or healthcare professional
- Any reading glasses you have
- Sunglasses in case you need dilating drops
- Medicare Card and/or DVA card
- Pension Card or Health Care Card (if applicable)
- Private Health Insurance Card
- MRI, X-Ray or CT Scan films or disks
- Copies of blood tests, other results or doctors’ letters relevant to your condition
- A friend or relative to assist if required
Contact Lenses
If you normally wear contact lenses you should be prepared to take them out for your examination, and bring a pair of glasses to wear instead. If you wear contact lenses and are coming in for testing prior to cataract surgery, you should not wear them for a while before the appointment. For soft contact lenses you need to avoid wearing them for one week before, and for rigid lenses four weeks.
What Happens During My Appointment?
When you arrive at our Bathurst Street practice, you will be greeted by our friendly reception staff who will confirm your personal details and make sure our records are up to date.
From the first waiting room a member of the clinical team will take you into a screening room, where you will have your vision and intraocular pressure checked. After that come any further tests that your doctor might need to assist in your diagnosis or treatment. Depending on why you are visiting us, this might involve a visual field test, biometry in preparation for cataract surgery, an OCT to see the back of your eye, corneal topography to show the shape of the front surface of your eye, or a trip to see one of our orthoptists.
You might need eye drops before you see the doctor. These act differently to any drops that might have been prescribed for you to use at home. Most often, the drops we use in the clinic will dilate your eye, making the pupil bigger. This allows the doctor to get a wider view of the back of your eye for a more thorough examination. These drops might sting for a few seconds, but the sensation wears off quickly. They might also make your vision temporarily blurry and you might be a bit more sensitive to light for a while. Usually, your vision will start to return to normal by the time you leave the clinic, but the duration can vary from person to person. If you know that you will be having these drops, it is a good idea to plan your trip home accordingly (leave enough time for the effects of the drops to wear off, or have someone else drive you if you are concerned about this) and don’t forget to bring your sunglasses!
After the preliminary testing and eye drops, you will move on to the doctor’s consulting room. Some minor procedures and laser treatment can be performed at the practice at 99 Bathurst Street. For bigger procedures, your treatment will be scheduled at Hobart Day Surgery or St John’s Hospital in South Hobart. Together we will make the necessary arrangements for this and we are very happy to answer any questions you might have.
After your consultation, you will head back to the reception desk where we can arrange payment, make your next appointment (if you need one) and organise any further related treatment or testing that you might need outside of our clinic.