Diabetes eye screening

When I received my appointment for the eye check, the letter from the hospital clearly stated 'you must not drive after the appointment as the eye drops may affect your vision'. If you've received a letter like this I strongly recommend you show it to her as you will clearly not be safe if operating machinery and driving.

mariadickens said:

Hi,

Have an appointment for my first screening test in September and have heard that you have trouble with your vision for several hours after. My appointment is at 12.00 so have shown appointment letter to my boss. She has told me under no circumstances can I have time off and must go back to work after. My job involves using machinery and driving. Can she do this as the company are aware of my diabetes?

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If I have mine at that time I can't see properly till early evening

I'd tell my(your) boss to stick it where the sun don't shine.

Sorry but it's just wrong, I have had the test and I wear glasses, for 3 hours that I was awake I could not see a lot, I mean you can see but you can't make sense out of what you are seeing, I remember struggling to even read the bus numbers to go home, if the boss is not giving you time off I suggest you take a holiday either annual leave or unpaid, its a lot better than putting your life at risk.

I had my first eye test on Monday.

The problems lasted about 2 or 3 hours after the test, and I definately could not have driven.

Your pupil get's enlarged by the drops so you get "blinded" by the day light as you leave the hospital. I basically kept my eyes shut on the way home (the wife was driving so I probably would have anyway ) and then lay on the sofa until it went away.

It is unreasonable for your employer to expect you to work, especially as your job entails doing things that will be dangeriously affected by the eye test.

I was told not to drive for 4 hours after my eye test and certainly for the first 2 hours it would have been very dangerous to have done so. How are you getting to and from your appointment? How do you normally get into work? If you normally drive in, phone up after your appointment and tell them you can't see well enough to drive in and that you will get there as soon as possible. Make sure you have the phone number already in your phone though as you won't be able to see well enough to press the number keys or read a phone number!!

Yes, as others have said the drops dilate the pupils in order to be able to photograph the back of the eye. On sunny days it can be a nightmare. They advise against driving but on really bright days I've sometimes struggled just walking! Hope for a cloudy day and take some sunglasses.

Matt J said:

Yes, as others have said the drops dilate the pupils in order to be able to photograph the back of the eye. On sunny days it can be a nightmare. They advise against driving but on really bright days I've sometimes struggled just walking! Hope for a cloudy day and take some sunglasses.

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It was a very sunny day when I had my test and i put sunglasses on before I left the building and my husband drove me home. It took 3 - 4 hours for my pupils to return to normal size!!

mariadickens said:

Hi,

Have an appointment for my first screening test in September and have heard that you have trouble with your vision for several hours after. My appointment is at 12.00 so have shown appointment letter to my boss. She has told me under no circumstances can I have time off and must go back to work after. My job involves using machinery and driving. Can she do this as the company are aware of my diabetes?

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A major consideration, apart from your health and well-being, is that an insurance might be invalidated if you were to drive or operate machinery. If I were you, I'd report your boss to Health and Safety..... or ask her to put this in writing to you -and then show it to someone in HR... I got a leaflet with my appointment letter and depending which Health authority you're under, they should have a leaflet to send which you could also show.

Hope that helps!

Yes, the system for eye screening is a lot slicker these days with the leaflets and screening letters and all done at the local optician. The first time I had it done (at the hospital) around 25 years ago I wasn't told a thing, no leaflet or warning - only "we're just going to photograph your eyes." I'd recently got my first car and walked out of the hospital into bright sunshine to be absolutely blinded. I had no idea how long it was going to last. I had no sunglasses with me either. I waited a bit but nothing changed and thought I'd just have to drive home anyway. Still, managed to get home in one piece!

Lessons learnt - wish for a cloudy or rainy day, choose an appointment later in the day in winter if possible, take sunglasses (and look like a rockstar when everyone else is miserable and cold) and I always walk or get a lift.