Royton Specsavers eye test helped catch early cancer

It was the first time in 40 years that the man had visited an opticians, after complaining that his eyesight was affecting his driving, when he walked into Specsavers’ Royton branch.

There the man, in his 50s and who has not been named, was examined by Tahira Rahman.

Upon inspection, the 29-year-old found that the man had bleeds at the back of his eye and suspected it was due to high blood pressure or diabetes, and so referred him to the GP and the eye hospital. 

She said: “When you go to an optician’s you don’t expect them to discover something like this, it’s usually just how your eyesight is.

“I sent him for two referrals which led to a cancer diagnosis - he had no symptoms of being unwell, he was just concerned about his driving.

Tahira Rahman in her Royton office (Image: Tahira Rahman)

“It’s not common to discover something like cancer from an eye test, and it’s even rarer on bleeds – they are typical of diabetes and high blood pressure.”

Mrs Rahman, who hails from Cardiff but moved to Royton two years ago after marriage, continued: “I think it goes to show how important it is to visit the optician’s - if this man hadn't have come in it might not have been picked up so quickly."

While the Market Street optometrist is unaware how her patient's treatment is going - she confirmed that he was diagnosed with an eye cancer which "could have spread to his liver had it not been picked up early".

Mrs Rahman added: "It’s really rewarding because in my job I’m in health care, I want to help people - and their health primarily usually to do with vision, helping them to see, but my referral led to that and I’m glad I could help catch it early on."

The man and his wife are currently dealing with the shock but visited the store to thank Mrs Rahman for referring him to the eye hospital.