Asked by: Nick Hurd (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assistance her Department is providing to countries which have not yet developed a national eye care plan.
Answered by Grant Shapps - Secretary of State for Defence
In 2013, the World Health Assembly approved the Global Action Plan for the Prevention of Avoidable Blindness and Visual Impairment 2014-2019 - Towards Universal Eye Health. This is a roadmap for WHO Member States and international partners with the aim of achieving a measurable reduction of 25% of avoidable visual impairments by 2019. One of the three key objectives of the plan is the development and implementation of integrated national eye health policies, plans and programmes to enhance universal eye health. The UK has signed up to the plan and existing UK programmes on avoidable blindness are contributing to achieving its objectives.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the findings have been of the Call to Action on improving eye health and the provision of NHS eye health services.
Answered by Alistair Burt
NHS England has not formally published the Call to Action. NHS England has advised that key themes arising from the Call to Action responses included:
- a desire to see a greater delivery of care in the community;
- a call for greater patient and user involvement in service redesign, particularly with more engagement of third sector organisations; and
- recognition that care pathways for eye health disorders needed to better reflect opportunities for health promotion, more consistent adoption of good practice guidelines in terms of management, and greater awareness of reablement /rehabilitation for service users with visual impairment and sight loss.
There was also feedback which highlighted the need for a review of information technology systems across England to better support integration of the eye sector in both community and hospital services.
We understand NHS England has discussed the findings with commissioners and stakeholders and that work is underway to develop local and national responses to the findings as part of NHS England business plan for 2015/16.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department's response to the Call to Action on improving eye health and the provision of NHS eye health services will be published.
Answered by Alistair Burt
NHS England has not formally published the Call to Action. NHS England has advised that key themes arising from the Call to Action responses included:
- a desire to see a greater delivery of care in the community;
- a call for greater patient and user involvement in service redesign, particularly with more engagement of third sector organisations; and
- recognition that care pathways for eye health disorders needed to better reflect opportunities for health promotion, more consistent adoption of good practice guidelines in terms of management, and greater awareness of reablement /rehabilitation for service users with visual impairment and sight loss.
There was also feedback which highlighted the need for a review of information technology systems across England to better support integration of the eye sector in both community and hospital services.
We understand NHS England has discussed the findings with commissioners and stakeholders and that work is underway to develop local and national responses to the findings as part of NHS England business plan for 2015/16.
Asked by: Sarah Wollaston (Liberal Democrat - Totnes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of domiciliary sight tests for the diagnosis of (a) visual impairment and (b) eye health conditions in (i) children and (ii) adults with disabilities.
Answered by Dan Poulter
Free National Health Service sight tests are available to people aged 60 and over, children under 16, those aged 16-18 in full-time education, people on low incomes and defined categories of people at particular risk of developing eye disease. NHS sight tests can also be provided as mobile services (domiciliary) to those eligible for an NHS sight test who are unable to leave home unaccompanied because of physical, mental illness or disability.
During a sight test, a doctor or optometrist is legally required to perform such examinations as are necessary to detect signs of injury, disease or abnormality and to refer the patient for further investigation if necessary. They will also carry out tests to determine if the patient requires an optical appliance to correct a defect in sight. These requirements apply regardless of where the sight test occurs and therefore no specific assessment has been made as to the effectiveness of domiciliary sight tests compared to non-domiciliary provision.
In 2013/14, domiciliary sight tests made up 3.3% of total NHS sight tests. At 428,109, this was 5% more than in 2012/13 (406,995). It is not possible to identify how many of these were provided to children or those eligible adults with disabilities.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in the UK lost their eyesight in each of the last five years; and what the reasons were for each loss of sight.
Answered by Dan Poulter
Information on the number of people who are registered as blind or partially sighted is published every three years by the Health and Social Care Information Centre. The following table gives the information from the 2008 and 2011 reports.
Number of people registered as blind or partially sighted as at 31 March 2008 and 31 March 2011
Year | Blind | Partially Sighted |
2008 | 152,980 | 156,285 |
2011 | 147,810 | 151,010 |
Source:
www.hscic.gov.uk/article/2021/Website-Search?productid=1840&q=Registered+Blind+and+Partially+Sighted+People+england&sort=Relevance&size=10&page=1&area=both#top
The Public Health Outcomes Framework launched in 2012 includes an indicator on preventable sight loss which tracks sight loss due to the three main causes of preventable sight loss including age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma. Data has been published for 2010-11 and 2011-12 and a summary of this data is as follows:
Sight loss Indicators for England per 100,000 population
Indicator | Age | 2010-11 | 2011-12 |
4.12i - Preventable sight loss – age related macular degeneration (AMD) | 65+yrs | 110 | 111 |
4.12ii - Preventable sight loss - glaucoma | 40+yrs | 12 | 13 |
4.12iii - Preventable sight loss - diabetic eye disease | 12+yrs | 4 | 4 |
4.12iv - Preventable sight loss - sight loss certifications | All ages | 43 | 44 |
Source:
www.phoutcomes.info/public-health-outcomes-framework#gid/1000044/pat/6/ati/102/page/9/par/E12000007/are/E09000002
Definitions of sight loss indicators
Indicator 1
4.12i - Crude rate of sight loss due to age related macular degeneration (AMD) in those aged 65+ per 100,000 populations.
Definition
New Certifications of Visual Impairment (CVI) due to age related macular degeneration (AMD) aged 65+, rate per 100,000 populations. The numerator counts for this indicator includes sight loss due to AMD as the main cause or if no main cause as a contributory cause.
Indicator 2
4.12ii - Crude rate of sight loss due to glaucoma in those aged 40+ per 100,000 population.
Definition
New Certifications of Visual Impairment (CVI) due to glaucoma aged 40+, rate per 100,000 population. The numerator counts for this indicator includes sight loss due to glaucoma as the main cause or if no main cause as a contributory cause.
Indicator 3
4 .12iii - Crude rate of sight loss due to diabetic eye disease in those aged 12+ per 100,000 population
Definition
New Certifications of Visual Impairment (CVI) due to diabetic eye disease aged 12+, rate per 100,000 population. The numerator counts for this indicator includes sight loss due to diabetic eye disease as the main cause or if no main cause as a contributory cause. (These are not counts of diabetics with visual impairments due to any cause)
Indicator 4
4.12iv - Crude rate of sight loss certifications per 100,000 population
Definition
New Certifications of Visual Impairment (CVI), rate per 100,000 population. The indicator relates completions of CVI (all causes - preventable and non-preventable) by a consultant ophthalmologist; this initiates the process of registration with a local authority and leads to access to services.
Rationale
The indicators relate to one of the three main eye diseases, which can result in blindness or partial sight if not diagnosed and treated in time. These are age related macular degeneration (AMD), glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy.
Source: www.phoutcomes.info/public-health-outcomes-framework#gid/1000044/pat/6/ati/102/page/6/par/E12000007/are/E09000002