Learning Disability: Eyesight

(asked on 9th October 2017) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the use of hospital eye clinics by people with learning disabilities who cannot access a sight test in the community.


Answered by
Steve Brine Portrait
Steve Brine
This question was answered on 12th October 2017

NHS England is responsible for commissioning the National Health Service sight testing service. They have established a working group to examine the issues affecting the provision of sight tests and glasses for both children and adults with learning disabilities and to reach a view on what if any changes are required to current patient pathways in order to improve health outcomes and reduce health inequalities for this cohort of patients. The working group has wide representation which includes Primary Care Policy and Commissioning, Ophthalmology, The British and Irish Orthoptic Society, SeeAbility and other professional bodies.

It is not possible to estimate the number of people with learning disabilities who have received a sight test in a hospital eye clinic as this data is not collected centrally.

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