People with visual impairments across Scotland are set to receive specialist support closer to home under a new Community Low Vision Service backed by record investment in optometry.
Development work is now under way on the national service, which will allow patients whose sight cannot be fully improved through glasses, contact lenses or surgery to be treated by community optometrists rather than attending hospital clinics.
The new Community Low Vision Service will provide specialist eye assessments, practical advice and low vision aids such as magnifiers and enhanced lighting, helping patients maintain independence in their daily lives.
Optometrists will also carry out regular reviews and signpost patients to additional support where needed, including mental health services and social care.
The service will build on two existing community programmes already operating across Scotland, the Community Glaucoma Service and the Anterior Eye Service.
The Community Glaucoma Service allows patients with lower risk glaucoma and ocular hypertension to be discharged from hospital and monitored by accredited community optometrists.
The Anterior Eye Service enables community optometrists to treat ten complex eye conditions that would previously have required a hospital appointment.
When fully operational, the combined community services are expected to support around 40,000 patients to be treated entirely outside a hospital setting.
The roll-out of the Community Low Vision Service is supported by a record £144 million investment in community eyecare in this year’s Draft Budget.
During a visit to Munro Optometrists in NHS Lanarkshire, Health Secretary Neil Gray said:
“The introduction of our new low vision service is a significant step forward in our efforts to have more people treated in the community and close to home instead of a hospital setting.
“This new service will complement the programmes we already have in place, our Anterior Eye Service and Community Glaucoma Service which together we anticipate will allow an estimated 40,000 patients to be treated closer to home.
“We know this delivers better outcomes and we want community optometrists to be the first port of call for all eye-related conditions, the national roll-out out of these services, backed by £144 million for the sector, will help free up substantial capacity in our hospitals.
“It has been nearly 20 years since free universal NHS-funded eye examinations were introduced in Scotland and we remain the only country in the UK to provide this vital service.
“We will maintain this crucial policy and I would remind people of the importance of having regular examinations which can help with early detection of a range of sight and non-sight threatening conditions.”
The Community Low Vision Service is modelled on a scheme operating successfully in Wales and is designed to support people whose vision cannot be fully corrected, helping them remain active and independent for longer.
