RNIB highlights depression risk after sight loss

Thousands of blind people in the UK have been left isolated and at risk of depression, the RNIB has warned in a new report.

The Being There When it Matters report found that only 30 per cent of eye departments offered adequate support to people who were losing their sight. The charity has called for every eye department in the UK to have access to a qualified sight loss adviser so that individuals are properly supported as they adapt to life with reduced or no vision.

‘It is a profound injustice that the majority of people in this situation are not given any specialised support to help them through this extremely traumatic time,’ said RNIB’s CEO Lesley-Anne Alexander.