St Thomas’ Hospital hosted its 13th annual Low Vision Day in October. The event brings together equipment providers, social services and charities with people who have a visual impairment. This year we were welcomed by Paul Ryb, a gold medal winner at the 2018 International Blind Tennis Tournament and a member of Team GB (figure 1), whose characteristically inspiring words echoed the upbeat mood of the day.
Inside and Out
The event, which is free to both exhibitors and those attending, is supported by the ophthalmology department at St Thomas’ and aims to provide a locally based information event for patients as well as an annual focus for low vision practitioners in the London and south-east area.
This year saw 16 exhibitors at the event with more than 200 people attending. Undergraduate students from City University gave up their Saturday and bravely donned bright yellow T-shirts to act as an army of greeters, guiders and exhibition helpers.
People attending the event were offered a helping hand to get around the stalls and entertainment was provided by the VIP Singers, a visually impaired singing group led by former Guy’s and St Thomas’ consultant ophthalmologist, Sarah Janikoun (figure 2).
Figure 2: The VIP Singers in action.
Outside the disability cycling group, Wheels for Wellbeing, offered tandem bike rides on the walkway overlooking Big Ben (figure 3).
Figure 3: Wheels for Wellbeing, offered tandem bike rides.
Inside well attended workshops offered by London Vision covered the use of mobile phone technology and leisure activities in London while technology suppliers gave people the chance to look at a range of CCTV and computer-based kit.
Students and staff ran popular stalls displaying lighting and daily living equipment and there was a wide range of optical aids on display. There is no selling of equipment on the day with
people being offered information and details of anything they wish to follow up on.
A new addition this year was a free to attend CET event running parallel to the exhibition which was open to both optometrists and dispensing opticians. Two discussion workshops, led by Dr Zahra Jessa from the RNIB and Raimonda Bullaj from SeeAbility, gave attendees the chance to discuss complex low vision and learning disability cases with experienced practitioners from each organisation but also offered the opportunity to visit the main exhibition and mix with patients and exhibitors.
Networking
The Low Vision Day is purposefully open to all, patients and professionals, as experience has taught us that one of the big gains for practitioners is the ability to network face to face with other organisations.
When working with people with sight loss one of the most important things we can do is give accurate information about the services that might be useful to them but with organisations often merging, changing their names and even more commonly changing what they offer keeping up with what is out there from the safety of the consulting room is a challenge.
The day offered the opportunity to catch up with well-known charities like RNIB and the Macular Society but also to talk directly to local charities like Blind Aid, which offers home visiting in the London area, Metro Blind Sports which offers sporting activities across the capital and Blind Veterans UK which offers support to people who have served in the military. The Low Vision Day offered us all the chance to update our understanding of each other’s roles in providing services to people with sight loss across the health, social care and charity sectors.
Next year we are planning the same eclectic range of exhibitors and an expanded CET event. The date to put in your diary is Saturday, October 17, 10am to 2pm.
Marek Karas is Low Vision Lead Optometrist for the Guy’s and St Thomas Hospital Trust.