Although most medical students are taught the ‘SBAR’ framework and similar tools for making referrals, referring to specialists like ophthalmologists can be still daunting. Part of it is because of how little non-specialists know about ophthalmology, the lack of equipment to examine the eyes, and fear of being laughed at for a lack of a differential diagnosis! However, we spoke to an ophthalmologist and got some tips that will help any A&E, GP or ward doctor make a better referral to ophthalmology.