Role of the school eye clinic in modern ophthalmology

Routine sight tests for children at intervals throughout their school career are clearly important; three-quarters of those referred to the school eye clinics in this area had some ocular defect. It is probably no longer necessary for myopic schoolchildren to be treated by a consultant ophthalmologist after their initial examination.Forty-five per cent. of children referred to the school eye clinics in this area were found to have squint and/or hypermetropic/anisometropic/astigmatic refractive errors. Priority should be given to this group because of the association of amblyopia with these conditions. Their treatment requires closer association with the hospital ophthalmic department, perhaps even complete unity. Transfer of children at present seen in the school eye clinic to a hospital-based "children's eye clinic" would also fit in with a unified health service administration structure and be better placed to indicate, evaluate, and control future developments towards the prevention of amblyopia.