Eyewear & Opticians in Bishop Auckland, Durham

“Wheelchair accessible! Mention you're a wheelchair user on booking so they can use the big room. The lift to the eye test rooms upstairs is a press and hold button, where you need to turn 90° to exit the lift as the doors are not opposite or on the same wall, so you cant reverse out or drive forwards, you hace to turn. Even with my larger chair I had room to turn the corner. Also lift doors are automatic so you can get in and out independently. The exam rooms are all upstairs and they can have the chair taken out so you can stay in your wheelchair. Tight squeeze in the eye test room with my electric bariatric chair, but it did the job, and the eye test was done perfectly. Store has a built in ramp for entry and though one door will fit most wheelchairs through, I needed help with the other door. However specsavers have staff at the door at all times to assist customers, so its no problem to wave through the glass and get help in a matter of seconds. The store has enough space to get around, only downside is that some wheelchair users would need help reaching glasses on higher shelves. In my power chair I could only just reach, but a manual wheelchair user would struggle. The staff there are happy to help though. Sensorywise, the store is well lit, no flickering lights, and even during summer holidays the noise was at a calm level. Though if someone has a screaming child with them it would be loud, just due to each floor being open plan, so if you have Auditory sensitivities, I would recommend bringing ear defenders or earplugs incase you need them, though ive never known it to be noisy. One thing to note, is that I THINK the hearing test rooms are all down in the basement level, and the lift only goes between the ground and first floor. You may want to check this beforehand. Lastly, there is a wheelchair accessible toilet on the first floor, with a bar next to the toilet with a fold down bar on the other side. Red emergency cord was handing free to the floor when I went in most recently. There was enough space for my large wheelchair to turn around. Standard toilets available too on the same hallway. All over a very well adapted store, covers all the essentials a wheelchair user needs, and support available for anything else you may need help with.”

“Best opticians I have ever visited, everytime the treatment from start to finish is excellent, staff go out of their way to help, very friendly staff, they make me feel at ease as soon as I walk in”

“Great service from Monica (optician), my prescription better than any other well known High Street opticians...also Adam is extremely helpful, friendly and professional. Also sorted my friends varifocal lens prescription. The front ofdesk girls also very good and helpful. Would highly recommend this optician. Thank you...Yvonne and Peter”

“So pleased with the service I recently received on my visit to the Bishop Auckland Branch the staff were all extremely helpful and everything was fully explained to me. This was my first visit to Scrivens there kindly got me a appointment very quickly as I was experiencing severe headaches and was a big concern to me there really put my worried mind at ease and thank the lovely ladies for this it was the first visit but definitely not the last thank you all”