Simon Jones: Meeting unmet needs

News last week that the University of Portsmouth had established England’s first specialist eye clinic for people with Down’s syndrome will be welcomed by scores of patients and their families. But others now need to follow suit.

My first experience of just how nuanced an eye exam for someone with Down’s syndrome could be came several years ago at a launch event hosted by Sutton LOC for a new commissioning pathway for patients with special needs. I was struck not just at the lengths optometrists needed to go to in order to carry out a proper visual assessment, but at just how many visual problems people with Down’s syndrome could suffer from.