by Thousands of blind and partially sighted people are being denied their right to support after losing their lives, a charity has said.
A new report from sight loss charity RNIB suggests people at all stages of sight loss are being let down by a neglected and under-resourced social care service and patchy care provision.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request to local authorities in England reveals that people with sight loss are being denied their right to rehabilitation services.
According to the data, around 86% of local authorities are missing the 28-day deadline recommended by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman to investigate the needs of a person with sight loss.
Vivienne Francis, the RNIB’s chief social change officer, said: “By law, support must be provided through specialist vision rehabilitation services run by local councils or contracted out to third parties, but our Freedom of Information report shows that the service is unregulated completely with patchwork supply. care that leaves people with vision loss falling through the cracks.”
In more than a quarter (26%) of local authorities, blind and partially sighted people wait more than a year for a vision rehabilitation assessment and subsequent support, the report called Out of Sight found: The Hidden Scandal of Vision Rehabilitation Services Across England, .
The RNIB says these delays leave people with sight loss at increased risk of physical accidents and injuries, as well as mental health crises.
Vision rehabilitation gives people new ways to stay independent and do things like the weekly shop and enjoy the hobbies they love.
The charity suggests that because the services are the only specially assessed social care services for adults that are not monitored by care regulators such as the CQC, delays are not noticed.
Miss Francis said: “We know that local authorities in England are struggling to cope with the increase in demand for vision rehabilitation services and to effectively resource the service.
“However, wireless services mean that thousands of blind and visually impaired people often wait more than 12 months without the support they are entitled to so they can live their full lives.
“This hidden injustice of social care needs to be fixed – we are calling on all political parties in the UK to commit to ensuring that people with sight loss get the emotional and practical support they need when they need it.”
Terry Quinn, 59, from West Yorkshire, who has diabetic retinopathy and was registered as severely visually impaired in 2019, said he then became a “shell” of his former self and was in despair.
Mr Quinn added: “I didn’t get much help and guidance from the hospital – yes, they filled in a CVI (Certificate of Visual Impairment) form, saying someone from the local authority would be in touch – but, they never were.
“I have never felt so alone in my entire life.
“It was through a routine meeting with a wonderful lady at a local Low Vision clinic – she could see how I was struggling – she asked me if I had spoken to anyone from the council at all – Vision Rehab services.
“I said no at all. She made several calls, and within a day or two, a Vision Rehabilitation Specialist called me. I cried my eyes out on the phone with him, and he decided to come see me at home.”
Mr Quinn said he was visited three times over a few months by the specialist who helped give him information, helped him get a travel pass and concessions and gave him a lesson at home on how to use a white cane to get up and down degrees. .
He also said that once he was taken outside, and shown how to find curbs, and that was literally.
Mr Quinn said: “I couldn’t go on any more, I would go to bed in the evening, hoping and praying I wouldn’t wake up in the morning.
“But, unfortunately, I woke up and had to endure another day.
“Then, as a last resort, I plucked up the courage to call Guide Dogs UK, after weeks of thinking about it.”
Mr Quinn said having a Guide Dog that he loves has been a “life changer”, giving him back his independence and even allowing him to travel again.
Councilor Kaya Comer-Schwartz, social care spokesperson for the Local Government Association, said: “Social care services for adults have been underfunded for many years, but councils do their best for communities with the resources they have.
“This report shows the impact of not having enough funding, staff or support to provide the services they need to live the lives they want and want.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “Local authorities are responsible for assessing the care needs of individuals with sight loss and for commissioning services to support people with rehabilitation.
“We welcomed the publication of the Royal National Institute of the Blind’s Eye Care Support Pathway, which sets out the need for wider support for those with sight loss.
“NHS England contributed to its development and offered to support its dissemination to commissioners and eye care providers.”
