Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help support people who have been newly diagnosed with (a) blindness and (b) severe visual impairment in Fylde.

When someone is newly diagnosed as sight impaired or severely sight impaired, they become eligible for a Certificate of Visual Impairment (CVI). This can act as referral route to local authorities who, under the Care Act 2014 and Care and Support (Assessment) Regulations 2014, are responsible for ensuring that people with visual impairments in their area access the right care and support. Where individuals do not meet the eligibility threshold, they can get support from their local authorities in making their own arrangements for care services, as set out in the Care Act 2014. In addition, under the Equality Act (2010), local authorities must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged.

We are taking steps to update the process by which individuals receive their CVI form, to improve the signposting of patients newly certified as sight impaired or severe sight impaired to local sight loss charities for additional support.