COVID - 19 Update

A message from our Clinical Director

For over 100 years, Urquhart Opticians has looked after the eyecare of people in Ayrshire. It started with Robert Urquhart in 1916 and he lived by a core value of “Care & Community”, which we absolutely still stand by today. This core value is at the very heart of our response to the Coronavirus outbreak.

Care & Community – what are we doing to protect you?

In this uncertain time, I want to reassure you that at Urquharts your health and safety is of the utmost importance to us. The situation is constantly changing but we are taking the advice of our industry body Optometry Scotland and Health Protection Scotland.

At this time, we remain open and taking appointments – both routine and emergency.

To ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of our patients and colleagues we instigated a number of measures a couple of weeks ago and have continued to step these up in recent days. Some of the important measures that we are taking include:

We have chosen to introduce appointment spacing to limit the number of patient interactions and we are also offering complimentary home delivery of glasses through the post, again to limit exposure and so that if people are self-isolating then they can still receive their new glasses - we won’t leave you without them. Diary spacing means that in most cases, only one or two patients will be in our practice at any given time and we will not be running back-to-back appointments as we would normally do.

As always, we are maintaining our robust cleaning procedures and have implemented additional hygiene measures. All our equipment is sterilised after every use, with surfaces and handles all being thoroughly cleaned regularly and hand sanitizer is in place throughout the practice.

Emergency Eye Conditions – Make us your first port of call

We have a duty to continue to look after our communities across Ayrshire and your Optician is your first port of call for eye conditions. To limit the impact on GPs and A+E with any eye related concerns, we are available for emergency appointments as well.

We would ask that you call us first and we can arrange a time for you to be seen.

Take Care of Yourself First and Foremost

I would also like to echo the advice given universally at this time and if you have any symptoms – a new and persistent cough or a fever – you should follow the NHS guidelines on self-isolation.

We will continue to update everyone as we can, with the information we are given. If you have any questions or a query about your appointment, please don’t hesitate to contact us. You can get in touch with us by phone, email or across any of our social media channels. All details can be found on our website.

I understand that getting your eyes tested might not be your top priority, but whether now or in the future, we want you to know that we are here for you when you require. Thank you for your continued support and understanding and I hope everyone remains safe and well.

Alistair Duff
Clinical Director