What is Orthoptics?
Orthoptists are the experts in diagnosing and treating defects in eye movement and problems with how the eyes work together, called binocular vision. These can be caused by issues with the muscles around the eyes or defects in the nerves enabling the brain to communicate with the eyes.
Orthoptists see patients with a wide range of conditions affecting their vision. Patients may be directly experiencing symptoms such as blurred, oscillating or double vision, or they may exhibit outward signs, such as misalignment or uncontrolled movement of the eyes or abnormal head positions.
They are trained to offer a range of treatments in the management or correction of these conditions. This may include eye patches, eye exercises, prisms or glasses.
At ELHT Orthoptists have clinics both in the hospital and community. We also manage the Lancashire Vision Screening Service (LaVSS) alongside Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Contact Details
Orthoptic Department
Burnley General Teaching Hospital - 01282 804143
Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital - 01254 734653
Community Appointments - 01282 805546
Opening times - 8.45am-4.45pm Monday to Friday
Orthoptic Community Clinics
Useful links
British and Irish Orthoptic Society– The professional body for orthoptists - https://www.orthoptics.org.uk/
Squint Clinic - website containing lots of information about common childhood eye conditions - www.squint.com
Nystagmus Network-Organisation offering support and advice for people with nystagmus - https://nystagmusnetwork.org/
Royal National Institute for the Blind– Charity offering support and advice to people living with sight loss - https://www.rnib.org.uk/
Stroke Association– the UK’s leading Stroke Charity - https://www.stroke.org.uk/
Kay Pictures are suppliers of lots of orthoptic equipment, this page on their website has lots of fun games to help with occlusion therapy - https://kaypictures.co.uk/resources/
DVLA-Current guidance on vision standards and medical conditions that may affect your driving - https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/driver-and-vehicle-licensing-agency
NHS website-Health A-Z contains information on a variety of medical conditions - https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/
Interested in a career in Orthoptics?
East Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Education Website - https://education.elht.nhs.uk/
Useful documents
| Thumbnail | Title | Size |
|---|---|---|
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Atropine Leaflet.pdf | 317.95 KB |
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Child Squint Surgery Leaflet Final.pdf | 285.96 KB |
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Cleaning Instructions for Prisms.pdf | 387.68 KB |
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Eye-movement-problems.pdf | 2,166.07 KB |
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Glasses Information Leaflet.pdf | 481.39 KB |
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Instructions for Cyclopentolate Drops.pdf | 439.47 KB |
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Occlusion Leaflet.pdf | 360.44 KB |
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Orthoptic Exercises.pdf | 431.70 KB |
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Reduced-vision-following-stroke-and-brain-injury.pdf | 1,608.67 KB |
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Visual-Perception-Defects-following-Stroke-or-Brain-Injury.pdf | 1,771.14 KB |
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Web-based-therapy-for-visual-field-loss-and-visual-neglect.pdf | 1,713.57 KB |