ABSTRACT
A review was undertaken of a new primary orthoptic school screening programme. It followed the latest recommendations of the UK National Screening Committee (Hall & Elliman 2002). An orthoptic assessment and auto refraction were carried out on 1936 children (93% uptake). The majority of children (15%) with refractive error only were referred via the local optometrist to the orthoptist for follow-up. Four percent were referred to the hospital eye service (HES) with ocular motility defects and/or gross amblyopia. Attendance via the optometrist was poor compared to the HES. The incidence of squint seemed to be normal but there was a higher than usually quoted incidence of refractive error. This may be linked to the ethnic make-up of Bradford’s inner city population.
