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Fair access to Low Vision Services

Low Vision Services should be available across the UK, regardless of where you live 

A woman having an eye test

Key points

  • Low Vision Services are a crucial benefit to people with vision loss, offering practical and emotional support
  • Provision and referral pathways into the service are varied with many patients missing out simply because they live in a certain area
  • Low Vision Services should be commissioned in all areas of the UK with more clarity in the thresholds for referral
  • Eye Care Liaison Officer (ECLO) or equivalent roles can be instrumental in helping people to navigate the system – there should be at least one of these operating in every ICS or Health Board area.

Once CVI registration is made, referral to Low Vision Services become an important factor in the patient journey. Coming at a time when a person is most vulnerable and in most need of help, LVS offers comprehensive practical support and resources to help people live better with their vision loss. LVS can be provided by an optometrist, orthoptist, dispensing optician, or low vision therapists.

Low vision rehabilitation programmes are shown to improve quality of life particularly around mental health and social isolation. While a person does not necessarily need to be CVI registered to access these services, the UK has varying routes to referral with unclear pathways, unequal provision and divergent commissioning structures. Additionally, many services closed as a result of the 2020 Covid pandemic, so many patients will inevitably miss out on life-enhancing support. Only in Wales is there a government funded Low Vision service that is available to the whole population. Charities do fantastic work in this area to help support patients (RNIB et al), but inevitably they cannot provide for the whole population.

To make a positive impact on getting the support to those older people who really need it, greater clarity is needed for the thresholds in low vision assessment referral pathways and we need to address the current inconsistency in standards. Thankfully, there are existing mechanisms to help local areas set up comprehensive Low Vision Services, but some work needs to be done in streamlining the processes.

To further address the issues around accessing and understanding the services available as outlined by patients in the CVI experiential study, Eye Care Liaison Officers (ECLOs) and equivalent roles can be pivotal. They played an invaluable part in contacting patients and coordinating services during the pandemic. These relatively low-cost NHS roles can be the glue in the system for any person who is experiencing sight loss and accessing services for the first time, often following CVI registration. However, awareness of their value is underappreciated and many eye services do not have access to one, despite reported benefits.

Recommendations

  1. Low Vision services must be commissioned to ensure full accessible coverage across the UK. Preferably within every eye hospital and a funded service in optometry practices with simplified referral routes
  2. There must be at least one easily accessible full time ECLO (or equivalent) operating in every ICS/Health Board area.

References

For a full list of resources used to create this information hub visit our reference page.

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