We thank Mr Henry Lim for his feedback (Telemedicine for glaucoma patients not a good idea; May 30).

Many degenerative eye conditions, such as glaucoma, cataract and age-related macular degeneration, are associated with age and positive family history.

With the increased patient load and the recent Covid-19 situation, it is understandable why hospitals are seeking alternative means to reduce the number of patient visits.

There is also an increase in the number of optometrists in the community providing primary eye care services.

They are well-equipped to accurately detect and monitor eye abnormalities using technology such as retinal photography, optical coherence tomography, non-contact tonometry and visual field analyser.

Optometrists are eye health practitioners who are formally trained to provide vision correction and comprehensive eye examinations to detect eye diseases.

Those practising in the community are easily accessible for the public's primary eye care needs.

In the case of telemedicine, community optometrists can be utilised to assist ophthalmologists with ongoing patient management and help public eye hospitals prioritise patient visits to the hospital.

Having a community of optometrists who are trained, equipped and accessible to the elderly and people who are not savvy with digital technology is an asset to public eye care.

The Singapore Optometric Association encourages patients to involve their optometrist for their visual and eye care needs and to encourage compliance with treatment especially for chronic diseases such as glaucoma.

Tan Si Rui

Councillor

Singapore Optometric Association