Vision in View - Final report

In March 2015, Healthwatch Torbay conducted a focus group of 21 people with visual impairment to seek their feedback on how to inform accessibility and content of health services. The work was done as part of a programme of engagement in Torbay to inform local commissioning decisions. Healthwatch Torbay has a dedicated Visual Impairment (VI) ambassador to engage with local people.

The report identified the following: respondents were generally satisfied with the knowledge and advice of local optometrists and with the local eyecare; the service location was convenient; however, access to the service was sometimes difficult due to transport issues and long delays between appointments or difficulty getting convenient appointment times; some respondents did not feel they received any information or support in the eye clinic of the eye health and social services available.

All respondents stated that an Eye Clinic Liaison Officer would have been very useful to them.

The report recommended the following:

• To support the work of the Torbay ECLO by providing patient feedback to the service.

• To assist and support the re-establishment of the Low Vision and Sight Loss Torbay Task Group, including hosting events

• To attend the local Action for Blind People Living with Sight loss course to promote patient feedback

• To sit on the Local Eye Health Network and share experiences and issues arising from Healthwatch intelligence

• To actively promote the National Eye Health Week in September

Following the report, Healthwatch Torbay now has a regular spot at the Action for Blind People’s Living with Sight Loss course, and have arranged for attendees to have 1-2-1 sessions if they have any concerns about health and care services. Healthwatch Torbay was later invited to showcase their approach by speaking at the 7th annual Vision UK conference in June 2015.