PAEDIATRIC EYE CLINICS
Paediatric Eye Clinic Owners: Optical, Orthoptics and Cash Flow
A child is brought in after a school screening note, sits through dilation drops, waits for the orthoptist, and then goes to the optical counter for glasses. At each step someone is waiting for someone else. The parent leaves with a prescription and a vague promise to return in six months.
Our part is running that sequence as a business: appointment design, orthoptic and refraction room use, optical stock and pricing, recall and follow-up, and surgery quotes. We do not advise on any child's eye care, prescriptions or whether surgery is needed. Those belong to your ophthalmologist and the councils.
Discuss your priorities ↗COMMON CHALLENGES
The pressures
we often see.
- 01A single visit uses the doctor, the optometrist, the orthoptist and the optical counter in sequence, and delays at one step spread across all the others.
- 02Dilation needs waiting time that is invisible on the schedule, so the clinic looks busy while rooms and staff are actually idle.
- 03Spectacle frames and lenses are bought on guess, parents compare prices with online shops, and the optical counter becomes a source of both margin and friction.
- 04Follow-ups are vital for the child but easy for families to skip, so recall depends on whoever has time to phone.
- 05Squint or strabismus surgery is quoted before anaesthesia, day-care and review costs are fixed, and schools and festival holidays decide when families can come.
OUR FOCUS AREAS
Where the work
usually starts.
- 01A visit flow chart with timings from registration to optical counter, marking each wait.
- 02Room and staff use across doctor, optometrist and orthoptist, by hour, with dilation waiting captured.
- 03Optical stock by frame, lens type and age group, with ageing and last purchase price.
- 04Optical counter pricing and a returns, adjustments and breakage policy that the counter staff can quote.
- 05Recall list by review type with date due, caller and result of each call.
- 06Surgery quotation format with surgeon, anaesthetist, day-care and review visits shown separately.
- 07School and referrer register for paediatricians and school screening drives, with feedback letters.
- 08A monthly review of visits, glasses sold, recall done and bills outstanding.
START THIS WEEK
Things you can do
before you call anyone.
- Follow five families through a visit with a notepad and record time at each room. Show the staff the sheet. The team may be surprised by where children wait longest, and may well suggest the fix.
- List every frame in the children's display, with the cost price and how long it has been there. Anything unsold for a long stretch is cash tied up. Decide this week what to mark down.
- Hypothetical example: 20 children are due for a 6-month review and only 8 return. The 12 who did not come are not lost yet. A call from the desk costs little compared with a new visit.
A PRACTICAL ENGAGEMENT
Start with the priorities
that matter most.
We begin by understanding how your business runs today, find the gaps, and agree the scope in writing. Recommendations are shaped around your team, your resources and your goals.
- A visit flow map with target waits for each step and a roster to match.
- An optical stock and pricing sheet with reorder rules for children's frames.
- A recall tracker and call script for review visits.
- A surgery quote template and a payment schedule explained at the first conversation.
Not the right fit when: Not yet, if the live matter is a clinical complaint, a prescription dispute or a question about what an optician may do. Your doctor, insurer or the regulator should settle that first.
Explore a business audit ↗LET’S MOVE YOUR BUSINESS FORWARD
