Bater & Stout Opticians

15/11/2025

This is Maisie, one of our two amazing Optometrists.

She's recently qualified as an Independent Prescribing Optometrist, allowing her to provide even greater levels of care for patients by being able to prescribe certain medications. Not only that, but she now has a Professional Certificate in Medical Retina, giving her increased skills and knowledge in diagnosing retinal conditions.

Congratulations Maisie on your new qualifications!

She's also a Birthday girl tomorrow, so join us in saying a big Happy Birthday!

14/11/2025

With the horrible weather and dark nights very much upon us, is night-time glare giving you a bigger problem?

Our Dispensing Team can give you advice and demonstrate the range of driving lenses we have available to turn the tables on bright lights and give the advantage back to you when driving at night.

14/11/2025

We're a touch late sharing this with you all, but we are very proud that our very own Maisie Evans was the first Optometrist to benefit from a placement at Swansea Bay NHS Teach & Treat Clinic at Neath Port Talbot Hospital, to support her qualification as an Independent Prescribing Optometrist.

Optometrists are honing their skills and helping to reduce waiting times for patients as part of a new teaching facility in Neath Port Talbot.

The teach and treat clinic helps to train optometrists, who will be able to provide the independent prescribing service to patients in future.

Staff train qualified and registered optometrists who are studying for their independent prescribing qualification.

This allows optometrists to diagnose, manage and treat a range of eye conditions.

It means patients can often receive their care sooner and closer to home as it takes away the need for them to be referred to hospital.

Students who come to the clinic, based at Neath Port Talbot Hospital, would have already completed theoretical examinations as part of their university course.

The teach and treat clinic forms part of their placement, where they can develop a portfolio to show how they have supported and treated patients.

Kelly Pitchford is the senior hospital optometrist who provides the training at the clinic.

She said: “All of these students have completed their theoretical examinations, and the next phase is to attend a placement where they need to complete 24 sessions.

“During the sessions, they gain practical knowledge and can build up a portfolio to show that they’ve seen the required number of patients.

“Once they have completed the practical element, they go back to university to complete the third phase of their training which is a final examination.

“If they qualify then they can apply to be able to prescribe in the community.”

Maisie Evans qualified as an optometrist from Cardiff University in 2019 and now works at Bater & Stout Opticians, in Morriston.

She has since received training at the teach and treat clinic as part of her postgraduate qualification.

“I found the training very informative and helpful in my independent prescribing journey,” she said.

“The training consisted of seeing and examining all patients alongside creating a management and treatment plan.

“It was good that all the patients we saw were screened so we were only seeing patients that we would actually see in a community setting.

“The most useful tool I took from the experience was knowing how to confidently write my own prescriptions, as this was something I was nervous about doing before I started.

“The clinic is an excellent way for independent prescribing students to learn and familiarise themselves with conditions they will be seeing in the community.

“This ultimately will encourage more optometrists to take part and help take the strain off hospital staff.”

The training clinic was introduced in the Neath Port Talbot area to help improve access to independent prescribers for patients living in the area.

“We have a growing number of independent prescribing optometrists in the community but many of them are based in the Swansea area,” Kelly added.

“We decided to set up the teaching clinic in Neath Port Talbot Hospital so patients have easier access to the service.

“The clinic has provided an additional location for patients in the area to be referred to.

“We are also hoping once the students graduate, it will help to generate more interest in the future for them to practice in the Neath Port Talbot area.”

Being able to manage more patients in the community is not only of benefit to them, but also to the hospital-based consultants who can spend their time seeing other patients.

Mohammed Islam, optometric advisor for the health board, said: “This is helping to bring more services into the community for patients.

“We are helping patients to be seen closer to home instead of having to go to Singleton Hospital for emergency eye care.

“The clinic is going to help with upskilling the profession and providing services to help reduce the backlog of people waiting to be seen.”

18/10/2025

Please... don't be the next Horror story we see.

In the UK, only registered medical practitioners, optometrists and dispensing opticians (with suitable qualifications) may prescribe contact lenses.

Don’t buy lenses without our professional advice.

Contact lens prescriptions are valid until the next suggested date of examination.

Even if you buy your lenses online, visit your eye care specialist regularly to check your eye health and ensure your lenses are fitting well and always follow their advice.

What happens when something goes wrong? Avoid the problem by having your lenses properly fitted and checked.

15/10/2025

It's getting darker earlier...

Lights are getting brighter...

Creatures of the night may be lurking...

Ensure your vision is the best it can be with our ranges of Night Driving Lenses and make sure you aren't caught out in the Twilight.

14/10/2025

💖💀🖤 Día de los Mu***os 🖤💀💖

There are pumpkins 🎃 galore up and down Woodfield Street, so with our display we wanted to go in a different direction. Black🖤, Red 🥀 and White💀 feature in this window, the perfect colours to showcase our stunning Carolina Herrera frames.

Drop us a like and a comment if you love it, or give us a call if you want to see the fresh new styles in practice.

With special thanks to Ben for another fantastic display.

***os

21/09/2025

Until 30th November 2025 we are offering Hoya's iD Myself Tailor-made Varifocals for the same price as their excellent Lifestyle 4 lenses.

These lenses incorporate the very best of Hoya's technologies ensuring that you have the greatest visual comfort and easiest adaptation to your new lenses. They take into account differences in prescription between your eyes and utilise other technologies to make your field of view as wide as possible.

Charles our Dispensing Optician will dedicate his time to you to take specific tailoring measurements, guaranteeing that these lenses are unique to you.

If you are interested in learning more, please contact us to arrange a dispensing appointment.

19/09/2025

New window display showcasing Ted Baker and Autumn colours

All constructed and designed by the fantastic Ben from our talented team. Pop by today and check it out.

14/09/2025

RayBan Meta - available at Bater & Stout Opticians

These revolutionary smart glasses have capabilities beyond just making your vision clearer. We can provide clear, tinted and photochromic lenses for these timeless RayBan designs.

They can take photos and videos using built-in cameras, play music and accept calls using built-in speakers and have the power of Meta AI. This technology allows the wearer to have other languages translated in real-time, find out about the weather and provide support for those with visual impairments to name a few.

Call into the practice to see them in person and for a demonstration.

11/09/2025

At Bater & Stout Opticians we recommend adding optomap retinal imaging to your comprehensive eye exam.

The unique optomap ultra-widefield view helps your eye care practitioner detect early signs of retinal disease more effectively and efficiently than with traditional eye exams.

Help us keep you healthy with optomap. Ask for it when you make your appointment.

®

01/09/2025

With our sincerest apologies for any inconvenience, we are closed for Electrical Safety works to be carried out today.

Due to the nature of these works we regret we cannot see patients on this particular day, nor have any members of the public present in the practice.

If you have an urgent need for eyecare, please contact NHS 111 or an alternative Opticians practice who may be able to assist you. For anything non-urgent, we will help you as swiftly as we can on our return.

25/08/2025

With our sincerest apologies for any inconvenience, we will be closed for further Electrical Safety works to be carried out a week today (Monday 1st September).

Due to the nature of these works we regret we cannot see patients on this particular day, nor have any members of the public present in the practice.

If you have an urgent need for eyecare, please contact NHS 111 or an alternative Opticians practice who may be able to assist you. For anything non-urgent, we will help you as swiftly as we can on our return.