Your Visit

1. Your child’s referral letter from your optometrist, GP, paediatrician or other medical practitioner
2. Your child’s Medicare card and private health insurance details (if applicable)

Please note that you will receive a rebate from Medicare towards the cost of your child’s consultations and some of the tests performed at your child’s appointment.  Private health insurance providers do not provide a rebate towards these services.

• A list of any current medications or drops that your child regularly takes or uses.
• Results of any tests, x-rays or scans that your child has had prior to your appointment.
• Glasses or contact lenses worn by your child.

1. When you arrive, you will be asked to complete an information sheet to provide us with information regarding your child’s past medical history, allergies and any regular over the counter or prescribed medications they may take.  This information may already have been provided in your referral letter, however it is important that we have the most up to date information on file in order to provide your child with the best care possible.
2. Your child will then be seen by an orthoptist or ophthalmic technician, who are specially trained in performing tests to assess all aspects of your child’s vision and eye health.  They will first check things like vision, eye pressure, eye position and eye movements.  Sometimes they will then perform further special tests upon consultation with your child’s ophthalmologist, which may include:
   • Optos wide field retinal imaging – this is a high-resolution colour image of the back of the eye
   • Humphrey computerised visual field test – this checks your child’s peripheral vision
   • OCT scan (macula and optic nerve)
   • Ultrasound scan
   • Pentacam scan

3. The orthoptist or technician will then usually instill special drops into your child’s eyes to dilate (“open up”) their pupils – this allows a complete and thorough examination by their ophthalmologist.

4. These drops will take up to 30 minutes to work, and your child’s pupils will remain enlarged for around eight hours afterwards.  This means that your child’s vision will be a little blurry and their eyes will be more sensitive to light than usual throughout this time.

5. Your child will then be seen by an ophthalmologist, who will explore all facets of your child’s vision and health and perform a thorough ophthalmic examination.

Please allow up to two hours for your appointment if this is your child’s first visit.  Follow-up visits may be quicker, as all of the above steps will not necessarily need to be completed each time.