Fields at home

Domiciliary eye care is an integral part of the UK health service. The majority of housebound people are over 60 years of age and a sizeable chunk have a range of comorbidities, including neurological conditions. So, access to eye care is essential. This population also tend to fall into the category more likely to present with a field defect of some nature. For this reason, visual fields assessment should be included in a domiciliary eye check.

In an Optician feature last year, 1 Catherine Viner stated, ‘Following considerable debate regarding the assessment of visual fields in a domiciliary environment, the Domiciliary Eyecare Committee issued guidance on this matter. This guidance recommends that the safest requirement for domiciliary patients is for all mobile providers to ensure that a portable means for testing visual fields, either manual or electronic, is routinely available (in addition to confrontation targets) for all patients.’ 2