What is the Minor Eye Conditions' Service (MECS)?

The Minor Eye Conditions' Service (MECS) provides assessment and treatment for people with recently occurring minor eye conditions.

The service is provided by MECS accredited optometrists (also known as opticians)

Minor eye conditions that can be treated by the service include:

• Red eye or eyelids
• Dry eye gritty and uncomfortable eyes
• Irritation and inflammation of the eye
• Significant recent sticky discharge from the eye or watery eye
• Recently occurring flashes and floaters
• Painful eye
• Ingrowing eyelashes
• Recent and sudden loss of vision
• Foreign body in the eye

If you are unsure whether your symptoms can be assessed and treated by the service, please contact one of the participating optical practices who will advise you.

NOTE: If you have an eye condition that is being regularly monitored by your optometrist or hospital eye service, this will not be covered by MECS; for example, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy or glaucoma.

Who is the service for?

The service is for people registered with a GP in Stockport, HMR, Bury or Tameside & Glossop. It is for people of all ages - adults and children. Children under 16 years must be accompanied at their appointment by an adult.

How do I book an appointment with the service?

The service is provided by a number of MECS registered optometrists across these areas.
A list of participating optometrists can be downloaded here.

You can contact a participating practice directly (self-refer) to make an appointment. When you contact the optometry practice, you will be asked some questions about your symptoms in order to assess how quickly you need to be seen by the service.

Depending on your symptoms, you will be seen within 24 hours or five working days.

Please take your glasses and a list of your current medication with you to the appointment. The optometrist may put drops in your eyes to enlarge your pupils in order to get a better view inside your eyes. You should not drive until the effects of these drops have worn off, which may take a few hours.

Appointments are available during normal working hours. Some optometry practices offer appointments in evenings and at the weekend.

What will happen at my appointment?

The optometrist will discuss your eye history and the symptoms you are experiencing. You will receive an eye assessment, advice and treatment appropriate to your symptoms. You may need a follow-up appointment, and if so, this will be booked at the end of your first appointment.

If your condition is more serious, the optometrist will book you an urgent appointment at a hospital eye clinic for care.

If you need a routine appointment with a hospital, the optometrist will refer you for this.

You may also be advised to make an appointment with your GP if you eye condition is related to your general health.

You can use the map below to search and find details of optical practices which offer this service, just type your postcode in the ‘search box’ and press ‘enter’.

The dots on the map are all the opticians who are part of the service, click on the dot to see the name and phone number of the optician. You can zoom in and out of the map so see where the opticians are.

There is also a list of all the opticians in the box under the map, use the bar at the side to move down the list. You can then click on the opticians to see where it is on the map.