Issue - meetings

Cllr Eileen Keller, Chair, Health and Adult Social Services Select Committee (HASSC), presented the Scrutiny Review on Local Eye Care Services to the Board and highlighted the following reasons why the Select Committee had decided to take a closer look at eye health in LBBD:

·  There was concern that sight loss could have very serious emotional, social and financial impacts on people’s lives.

·  It was believed that the fear of having to pay a high cost for glasses was putting some local people off of going for an eye test regularly, and possibly missing out on early treatment for any eye conditions they were developing

The results of the Scrutiny Review, attached as Appendix 1 to the report, had indicated that there were many positive areas of practice, for example:

·  Eye care services in the Borough compare well with national benchmarks

·  There was a good supply of opticians spread across the Borough

·  Diagnosis and treatment was available at Queen’s Hospital and Morefields in Upney Lane.

·  Rehabilitation, support and information was offered by the Council

·  There were a number of relevant local and national voluntary groups active in the Borough.

Cllr Keller advised that there were, however, areas for improvement and it was on those areas the HASSC had based their six recommendations on, which were:

·  Two of the recommendations related to the eye-care pathway, because HASCC felt the current pathway was over-complicated and there was scope for local opticians to refer people directly to other eye services, rather than send them to their GP for referral.

·  HASSC had heard from national organisations about the benefits of having access to an Eye Care Liaison Officer locally and were recommending that the CCG consider commissioning this role.

·  HASSC would like the CCG to consider whether cost-effective improvements could be made to low vision services, as in other parts of London those services were closer to where people lived and provided more tailored support.

·  HASSC had recommended that the Council undertake a local communications campaign emphasising the importance of going for an eye test every two years.  This was because statistics showed that during 2014/15 only one in five people in LBBD went for an eye test, which was lower than in Redbridge and Havering.

·  Although NHS glasses and eye tests for children were free, there was no way of ensuring that all children had an eye test as it was dependent upon parents taking their child to a local optician.  HASSC recommended that the Board considered and introduced a scheme to encourage parents to take their children for an eye test before they start school, possibly using some of the health check systems already in place.  Cllr Keller mentioned that in the past an optician, dentist and nurse would make school visits to see every child and perhaps something could be arranged along those lines.

Jignasa Joshi, Chair, North East London Local Optical Committee (LOC), advised that the LOC had supported the recommendations from the HASSC. However, the Service Specifications for Community  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32