See, plan and provide: Vision rehabilitation campaign guide
Sight loss can have a significant impact on everyday life. Sadly, RNIB often hears from people who tell us they feel isolatedand frustrated. It does not have to be this way. That’s precisely why the Care Act recognises the importance of vision rehabilitation support.
It’s vital that councils plan and delivervision rehabilitation services that are resourced and designed to meet the needs and demands of local blind and partially sighted people.People cannot be left to struggle on their own - now or in the future.
From November 2016, with councils considering their budgets for the following year, we want to ensure that vision rehabilitation services are properly resourced. Does your local service have the right resources to ‘see, plan and provide’?
What is vision rehabilitation support?
Vision rehabilitationprovides crucial training and advice to people experiencing sight loss. This includes support to help them live in their home safely and negotiate the many obstacles and risks in the external environment. It gives people the skills and confidence to maximise their independence,participate in activities and access their community.
“When we lose sight, we need the helping hand of vision rehabilitation to show us new openings... that is why I am so passionate about this campaign”– Padma
Securing the right resources
Over the past five years, some councilshave reduced the resources they allocate to vision rehabilitation. Despite this worrying trend, other councils have continued to ensure that their services are properly supported, with fantastic results. One council in the East of England developed a tool to measure the cost benefits of vision rehabilitation. They found that investing in vision rehabilitation services saved at least £144,000 a year in care support costs.
Vision rehabilitation helps blind and partially sighted people to live as independently as possible. We know that the right support at the right time can prevent, reduce and delay the need for costly care packages. It makes sense for everyone, then, if councils ensure that the right resources are available.
Assessments must be tailored to each person’s needs
Blind and partially sighted people should receive an adequate assessment that’s tailored to their needs. A person may then go onto receive an assessment for vision rehabilitation or care, and could be referred onto other services and local support groups.
Alarmingly, our research found that just under half (49 per cent) of blind and partially sighted people in contact with their council do not receive an assessment for vision rehabilitation support. This means that many are denied the right support, at the right time, to help them live independently at home.
Assessments are not sensitive to the unique needs of people with sight loss
RNIB is concerned that, of those who do receive an assessment, not all are offered a specialist assessmentwhich is sensitive to their unique needs. Our research found that 66 per cent of councils do not offer a specialist assessment to people with sight loss upon initial contact.
“I asked for mobility training and the council said they would get me referred. Nothing happened.”
See, plan and provide
There are three easy steps that we’re calling on all councils to take - see, plan and provide. By putting the right resources in place to see, plan and provide,councilscan meet the needs of blind and partially sighted people.
- See: everyone with a visual impairment must receive a specialist face to face assessment.
- Plan: everyone must have a plan in place, identifying the outcome of their assessment. The first two steps must take place within 28days of first contact with the council.
- Provide: any agreed vision rehabilitation support must start within 12 weeks of the person’s initial contact with the council.
For moreinformation on vision rehabilitation, please read our ‘See, Plan and Provide executive summary’
What you can do
We needyour help to ensure that your council’s rehabilitation service that meets the three steps of ‘see, plan and provide’. There are a number of actions you can take:
Online action:Anew, simple online action. You simply put in your postcode, and a pre-written letter appears that you can adapt with your own message. The email is then sent directly to your local councillor.
Share:Please promote the online action to your friends and family. If you’re onFacebook or Twitter, you can use the hashtag #seeandplan and share the following link to the action:
Meet with your councillor:your local councillor is there to help, support and listen to members of their local community – that’s you! It may feel a bit daunting to talk to your councillor, but they are genuinely interested to hear from you.
- Making the appointment – to identify your local councillor is, you can either visit your council’s website or phone them. There will be details of all councillors andinformation on how to contact them.
- “I have their contact details - now what?” – You can email, write or phone them to ask to meet.
- “They have agreed to meet me – now what?!” - Make sure you plan for the meeting and are clear about what you want to say. See the ‘Bring it all to life’ section below for some useful tips.
Give feedback
Councils often review the services that they provide or commission, and welcome the input of the people who use them. You can highlight the importance of timely, specialist assessments and high-quality vision rehabilitation services in a number of ways:
- Ask your council if they are consulting on local care services or budgets, and if so how you can become involved.
- Ask if there is a group that you could join of people who use services that advise the council.
- Ask how you can give feedback to health and wellbeing boards. The aim of these boardsisto help the council to make decisions about health and care services.
Bring it all to life
Remember, your experiences are really valid, soif you have a personal story, why not tell your councillor about it! Did you receive vision rehabilitation support and did it help, or do you know someone who has? Have you not received the support, but wished that you had?
Bring a copy of See, Plan and Provide and the RNIB’s ‘10 principles of vision rehabilitation’. Read through the briefings and highlight any key points that you’d like to make. If you’d like to discuss what’s happening in your area, please contact theRNIB campaigns team.
Have a clear ask for your councillor. This could be to askthemto put resources for vision rehabilitation on the agenda at relevant council meetings. You could request that they discuss our see, plan and provide report withthe person responsible for social care, or ask them to explain what vision rehabilitation support the council currently provides.
If you’d like support at a meeting, our Regional Campaigns Officers are there to assist. To contact yourlocal officer, visit
More information and support
Our ‘How can I access vision rehabilitation support?’ document explains the process of contacting your council and requesting an assessment.
If you have any questions, or to request documents in your preferred accessible format, 020 7391 2123.
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