The last few months have been trying for most businesses impacted by COVID-19. Throughout April, we have scaled down our clinic to only cater to patients requiring urgent attention and emergencies. During these uncertain times, it had changed the way we practise and how we interact with our patients in our clinic. Earlier this week, the ACT government has announced the elimination of active cases of COVID-19 within its territory, along with NSW easing their travel restrictions.
During these downtimes, Capital Eye, your optometrist in Canberra, has been preparing the clinic to continue protecting our patient, staff and the community.
Our optometry clinic has always been open by appointment only. Our clinics and appointments have always been scheduled and designed with your privacy and safety in mind. During your appointment, the practice is open to you and you only. You have the peace of mind, space and privacy from the start of your appointment to choosing your frames and lenses. During your appointment, the space of the entire practice isn’t likely to be shared with among other patients.
During these unprecedented times, we further reduced our clinical capacity to only operating at 25%. This allows additional time to sanitise our common areas before the arrival of our next patient. By further reducing our capacity in our optometry clinic, we further limit the extent of the spread while exceeding the social distancing advice issues by the Australian Government.
Rest assured, that all patients entering our clinic are screened for their travel history and any respiratory symptoms over the phone before attending to their appointment. Masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) are provided if necessary. Our patients are made aware of using hand sanitising stations within the practice. Disposable masks are provided to our patients if required.
Protective screens are used in the consultation room, where prolonged face-to-face contact is required. Our optometrist will be using gloves, routine hand washing and sanitising throughout the optometry consultation.
More specific details on how we’ve changed the way we practise to ensure your health and safety can be found on this link. With these measures in place, we sincerely believe that we have reduced the risk of spread among our patients significantly making our practice one of the least likely places for an outbreak to occur.
At Capital Eye, our optical products; optical frames, lenses and contact lenses are sourced from our local suppliers and warehouses. There hasn’t been any significant impact on the manufacturing process of our frames and lenses with our laboratory partner in Melbourne. Our lead time remains unchanged for most parts as they aren’t shipped from overseas and not subjected to quarantine restrictions.
The Bottom Line
Capital Eye is prepared to resume routine optometry services for our patients and the community. We’ve taken every step of caution along the way and will be continually improving the way we practice for the months ahead. We are located in Barton, a 10-minute drive from Kingston, Forrest, Griffith and Manuka. Whatever your eye care needs are, we are committed to providing you with expert advice within a safe and protected environment.