Free · Today · Middleton, Rochdale, Heywood, Oldham, Bury
Urgent eye care in Middleton, for north Manchester: seen today, no charge
Before you ring the GP, before you drive to North Manchester General, ring Long Street. An optometrist looks at the eye properly, today, for nothing, whether you are a patient here or not. Treated in the chair if it can be, and fast-tracked to the eye hospital with the scans already done if it cannot.
Come here first
Sore eye? Come to Abra & Co Middleton today, for free.
Middleton, Rochdale, Heywood, Chadderton, Oldham, Bury, Blackley, Prestwich, Alkrington: wherever you are, come here first. We look at the eye properly today, and if it needs a specialist, we refer you on and fast-track it ourselves.
Rung the GP?
Come here instead. We have the eye microscope, the pressure check and the retinal scanner the surgery doesn’t, and we see you today, not next week. We’ll write to your GP afterwards.
Thinking about A&E?
Come here first. Twenty minutes with an optometrist on Long Street beats hours at North Manchester General, and we have the equipment to find what’s wrong. If it needs the eye hospital, we ring Manchester Royal Eye Hospital while you’re in the chair, send your scans ahead, and you go in fast-tracked, not to the back of the queue.
Never been to Abra & Co?
Doesn’t matter. Anyone nearby with an urgent eye problem is seen today, free with a local GP. No referral, no forms, no charge. Ring, and you’re booked in.
What people in Middleton ring about
Every one of these is seen the same day.
“Red, sore, and worse this morning.”
A red eye that is new this week is usually conjunctivitis, an inflamed lid, a scratch or a dry eye flare. Diagnosed under the microscope and, in most cases, treated in the chair.
“Floaters, and flashes at the edge.”
Ring today even if it has eased. Usually the gel inside the eye separating harmlessly; occasionally a retinal tear that must be seen quickly. Photographed and scanned here, and you are told which.
“Sudden blur in one eye.”
Ring now. Always the same day. If the sight went like a curtain falling, that is A&E, and ring us on the way.
“Something in my eye that will not shift.”
Do not rub. Rinse with clean water, ring, and we find and remove it under magnification and check the surface for damage.
“A swollen, hot eyelid.”
A stye or a blocked gland: common, treatable here. Hot and spreading, with a temperature: seen today.
“I sleep in a CPAP mask and woke with a painful red eye.”
Ring today. A dried, scratched surface from air leaking under the mask is common and treatable, and it needs looking at rather than dropping.
Free. Same-day appointments at Abra & Co, 36 Long Street.
The exceptions
Straight to North Manchester General A&E, no phone call, if
A blow or a cut
A blow to the eye and you cannot see properly, or a cut to the eye itself.
Chemicals
Chemical in the eye: rinse with water for fifteen minutes first, then go.
A curtain
Sudden loss of vision in one eye, like a curtain coming down.
Severe pain with nausea
A very painful eye with nausea or a headache, especially with haloes around lights.
Manchester Royal Eye Hospital on Oxford Road has a dedicated eye casualty; the Royal Oldham and Fairfield in Bury have A&E. Everything else: ring Long Street, today.
Getting here
36 Long Street, Middleton
From Rochdale and Heywood
Ten to fifteen minutes down the A664 or A6046. Long Street car park is two minutes on foot.
From Chadderton, Oldham and Blackley
Ten minutes across on the A669 or the A576. Buses to Middleton bus station, which is a short walk.
From Bury, Prestwich and Alkrington
Fifteen minutes on the M60 or the A6045. Step-free access from the street.
Five practices, one family
Independent, family-run, and in Middleton for good
Abra & Co on Long Street is the practice the whole family grew from, and it is still run the way we would want our own parents looked after: unhurried, honest, and by people who know your name. Four sister practices share the same training and the same rule for urgent eyes: today, and free.
- IndependentFamily owned since 2017. No head office, no targets on the desk.
- LocalRooted in each town, with the same faces every visit.
- World-classHospital-grade imaging, and optometrists trained beyond the standard test.
- PersonalForty-five minutes, explained plainly, and time to talk.
Today
Call Abra & Co, Middleton
If you don’t get through to anyone, leave your number below and we’ll call you back as soon as we can. Or book the urgent slot online and we’ll see you today.
36 Long Street, Middleton M24 6UQ · Long Street car park, two minutes on foot · Monday to Friday 9:00am – 5:30pm · Saturday and Sunday closed
Frequently asked questions
I am in Rochdale or Heywood. Is Middleton the nearest same-day optometrist?
For most of Rochdale, Heywood, Castleton and Norden, yes: ten to fifteen minutes down the A664 or the A6046, with the Long Street car park two minutes from the door.
Is there a charge?
Not if you are registered with a GP in the area; the NHS funds urgent eye care. If you are not registered locally we still see you today, at £60, and we tell you that on the phone.
Where do you send people who need the hospital?
Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, which has a dedicated eye casualty, or the Royal Oldham for the Oldham side. We ring them, send the photographs and scans, and you arrive as a referred patient.
What if it is after half past five?
Ring in the morning and you are seen that day. Overnight, a blow to the eye, chemicals, sudden loss of sight or severe pain with nausea is A&E at North Manchester General or the eye casualty on Oxford Road.