eyesight requirements- confusion?

[lilly5]

ah- here we are i think and hope this is the right topic.
At the medical assessment stage, and having a bit of a disagreement with Occ health nurse regarding the interpretation of eyesight requirements..bear with me:-
right- guidlines stipulate
Eyesight Mandatory requirement
Static visual acuity1 Corrected distance visual acuity must be 6/12 in either eye
and 6/6 or better, binocularly.
Corrected near static visual acuity must be 6/9 or better,
binocularly. [Applicants who do not reach the standard
should not be rejected but should be invited for a further test
after obtaining a stronger prescription].
Uncorrected visual acuity must be 6/36 or better, binocularly.
Corrected low contrast distance visual acuity must be 6/12 or
better for a 10% contrast target, binocularly.

now both my optician and myself, and pretty much everyone else ive asked -including serving officers of high rank, have interpreted this as meaning- if you can see ok to the requirements with ONE eye, and both together then you're fine.
however, the O/H nurse is of the opinion that it means each eye individually

i have very poor vision in my left eye, as a result of corneal scarring from childhood,,, but my peripheral vision is up to standard and my sight in my right eye and both together is 6/5 WITHOUT GLASSES! so..above the standard!
Is anyone please able to shed some light on this before i go totally mad...every document ive read reads the same to me and i dont understand why the nurse is viewing this a different way.
TIA
x

[falkor]

what have you got in writing back from them? anything on email? or by letter?

You will have to wait until you get something in concrete from that nurse's department. it doesn't matter what she says to you in a conversation - what an email says or what a letter says is what counts

[Lieutenant fatman]

Sounds strict, I don't recall having to do that test on joining up. My eyesight is pretty bad so could have been a problem.

Maybe phone them up directly and ask the question? Always possible the nurse in question lacked experience in that role.

[lilly5]

Thanks...i dont have ANYTHING in writing at the moment. She just keeps faffing & saying the wording is ambiguois when i ring!!
I'm concerned now...that im.going to miss the start of the training module..which will set me back 6 months.
Will ring again tomorrow & ask for her reasons in writing.

[falkor]

terrible nightmare you're going through just awful

but thinking back to how you applied for the job in the first place, was it online? by letter? I would raise this with the same department that accepted your application/ organised your medical assessment stage or even a previous stage in the recruitment system, you can't depend on this nurse to progress your application

[lilly5]

Hi Falkor, I spoke to her again this morning, she just doesn't listen to me...tried to explain to her what my optician has said & asked her to email me her reasoning to show him...so i have something in writing...she just said she doesn't have time to do that. Shes "very busy".was very tempted to say to her that if she stuck to following guidelines them perhaps her workload would be less. !!
She just rushes through our phone calls and doesnt listen to what im saying. ..i even quoted word for word from the college of policing quidelines to her & her only response was to say...the regs have changed! !! (But SHE doesnt know what they ARE!!!!)
In answer to your question...i applied by letter.
My optician, says she is just being awkward, he is going to write me a report on Wednesday stating that there is NO reason that i dont meet criteria...i will send that in then give her a couple of days. Then..if still no progress, im going to go back to the recruitment team i think and raise it with them?