Don't lose sight of the forgotten thousands

Following the launch of the RNIB's eye examination promotion last month (News, January 27), the profession has urged policy makers not to forget the importance of domiciliary care.

The optical bodies, which have backed the charity's 'Open Your Eyes' campaign, have cautioned against overlooking the thousands of housebound people who are missing out. They warned that as many as 660,000 housebound older people are not using the Health Service's free home sight test programme.

In addition, they claim neglecting this group could be costly. They point out that University of York research has shown that over 189,000 people with visual impairments fall each year, many of them elderly people, at an estimated annual cost to the NHS of 269m.

It is believed that over one million older people live at home or in care, unable to visit a high street optician, yet less than a third of these people make use of the free home sight tests available on the NHS.

'The RNIB's campaign Open Your Eyes seeks to end preventable sight loss by 2020 and reminds the public of how vital regular sight tests are,' said a spokesman for the optical bodies.

'However, most people are unaware of the free sight tests available at home for those unable to leave home unaided due to mental or physical disability.'

The RNIB campaign comes on the back of the new eye examination system announced in Scotland and just ahead of the Department of Health's review of General Ophthalmic Services in England.

The profession has outlined its proposals of how eye care should be developed in England in its paper Primary Eye Care in England: A Vision For The Future.

Jayne Rawlinson, chairman of the professional bodies' domiciliary eye care committee which represents providers, said: 'It is essential that everyone stands together with the RNIB in pressing home the importance of regular sight tests.

'It is even more vital that vulnerable people confined to their own homes or residential care make use of the free domiciliary eye care provided under the NHS to maximise health and quality of life.'