RNIB Annual review 2012/13
Making everyday better
Contents
- Introduction
- Stopping people losing their sight unnecessarily
- Supporting independent living
- Creating an inclusive society
- Thank you
- A brief look at our finances
- How you can help
- Further information
Chair and Chief Executive introduction
The last year has been an extremely challenging one for blind and partially sighted people, as well as for us as a group of charities. But despite the real problems that cuts to income and services are causing, we are extremely proud of our achievements.
During the year we have been consulting blind and partially sighted people and key stakeholders on the development of our 2014-2019 strategy. We have also been working very hard to deliver the goals we set ourselves in our existing strategy.
We continue to provide the support and services people with sight problems require in order to lead more independent lives. Our Helpline has been a vital source of support in recent years, as people struggle to cope with the impact of the economic climate on their lives.
As well as seeing a growing complexity to these calls, last year we dealt with more enquiries than in any previous year. The fantastic success of our Personal Independence Payment (PIP) campaign will make a huge difference to the lives of blind people as they are assessed for their eligibility for PIP as it replaces Disability Living Allowance (DLA). On top of this our advice service continues its vital work identifying previously unclaimed benefits to which blind and partially sighted individuals are entitled. Together with our partner Action for Blind People, we have continued to expand the quantity and quality of support available to people at the point of diagnosis of a sight threatening eye condition. There is now more support available in eye clinics, which is delivered by increasingly expert staff and volunteers.
Our work to create a better world for people with sight problems has led to some important progress this year. There are more talking cash machines which people can use independently and promises of many more to come. There are more mobile phones and internet sites that are set up so that blind and partially sighted people can use them effectively. More television programmes have audio description and we have the first talking digital TVs. Blind and partially sighted people have access to more eBooks than ever before. All these improvements, and much more besides, are a tribute to our work highlighting the issues faced by people with sight problems; and our expertise in working with industries to find innovative and creative solutions.
Toward the end of the year we launched the Spot the signs campaign as part of our work to prevent avoidable sight loss. Early indications are that the campaign has been a great success in bringing crucial eye health messages to people aged 50 plus, empowering them to spot the signs of sight loss at a point when they may still be able to do something about it. The long-term Community Engagement Projects are beginning to show what will help to get eye health messages to traditionally hard to reach communities at high risk of sight loss. Through our campaigning work we continue to have a positive impact on the development of local sight loss services and the availability of sight-saving treatments on the NHS.
It is impossible to reflect on this year without feeling immensely proud of our role working with the Olympic and Paralympic games organisers to make London 2012 the most accessible games yet. We achieved so much in terms of audio description, volunteering, employment and making venues and ticketing accessible to people with sight problems.
All of our achievements are thanks to the generosity of our supporters. Whether it is the work of local fundraising groups, the time volunteers give to help provide vital services, the extra mile to which our staff often go, or the kind people who leave us a legacy in their Will, all are equally precious.
Together we are making every day better for people affected by sight loss: by being there when people need us, supporting independent living, creating an inclusive society and preventing sight loss.
Kevin Carey, Chair
Lesley-Anne Alexander CBE, Chief Executive
Stopping people losing their sight unnecessarily
Shockingly, over 50 per cent of sight loss in the UK is avoidable. We work hard to ensure sight-saving treatments are available to all.
Highlights of our work
Our Spot the signs campaign has introduced thousands of people to our work and the crucial eye health messages that could help save their sight in the future. Our Community Engagement Projects (CEPs) are in full flow and this year we began trialling potential models of work which will ultimately help reduce the levels of avoidable sight loss in key community groups. We have relaunched our eye health magazine “NB” as a free magazine so we can ensure vital eye health messages are getting to as many eye health professionals as possible.
Ensuring that proven eyecare treatments remain available on the NHS is proving challenging in the current economic climate but we continue to campaign for changes to restrictive practices and have had particular impact this year ensuring continued availability of cataract treatments.
We have launched a sight loss data tool on our website which helps service planners by providing vital local detail demonstrating the need for eye health and sight loss services. Our local campaigning work has helped to influence the Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSNAs) and should result in an improvement in local services and improved provision of eye health services.
Finally, our eye health experts continue to inform and reassure people with a level of expert service that isn’t available elsewhere. We continue to be the most trusted source of eye health information for anybody losing their sight and wanting to know more about their eye condition.
Our goals and impact
Profile of sight loss
Our goal: Increase the profile ofeye health and prevention of avoidable sight loss at a national and local level across the UK.
This year, to achieve this impact goal, we have campaigned to ensure that eye health and the support required by people with sight loss are included in JSNAs, have collaborated with the wider eye health sector to ensure eye health is recognised as a public health priority, and we have begun to try and influence NHS eye health provision by showcasing the findings of our Community Engagement Projects (CEPs).
Our impact
As part of ongoing work, we have actively influenced 32 of the approximately 150 JSNAs across the country. We have already secured the inclusion of eye health within six JSNAs, including Essex and North Yorkshire. We have strong support for it to be included in another six, including Kent and Birmingham; and are in discussions with another 20 areas. There is still much more to do to influence all JSNAs, but these successes will ensure that eye health is included in healthcare provision available in these areas and serve as an example for others to follow suit.
This year has also seen a major success in national recognition of eye health. From April 2013 sight loss became part of the Public Health Outcomes Framework in England.Anita Lightstone, UK Vision Strategy Programme Director and Chief Operations Officer for VISION 2020 (UK) Limited said:
“By working together the eye health sector has ensured that preventable sight loss has been recognised by the Government as a public health priority for the first time. This major achievement is one further crucial step on our journey to improving the eye health of the nation.”
Finally, although it is early days in delivering the full impact of the projects, our CEP work is already being recognised. In Bradford six GP practices are already trialling recommended practices to improve diabetes self-care within the local community, and the potential impact of the Glasgow CEP on community healthcare services has been officially recognised by the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Community Health Partnership.
Eye health
Our goal: Increase the awareness of eye health amongst the general public and our priority populations.
We have delivered a number of activities this year to increase the awareness of eye health. In March we launched our Spot the signs campaign with a series of radio, newspaper and cinema advertisements to alert people to the threats to sight of age-related eye conditions and to encourage people to look after their eyes.
This year our five Community Engagement Project (CEP) areas have started to put interventions into practice focusing on reaching at risk populations such as South Asian, African and African-Caribbean communities and people from areas of socio-economic deprivation.
In addition, National Eye Health Week engaged people throughout the UK with key eye health messages with particularly strong activity in Wales and Scotland and a GP surgery based campaign across England. We have also continued our work with GPs via the Doctors.net UK training site to raise levels of understanding of sight loss and position RNIB as a key source of information for doctors.
Our impact
The Spot the signs campaign had a significant impact. Over 330,000 people visited our new website, and over 18,000 downloaded information on crucial eye health messages that could help identify signs of sight loss and promote action to prevent it.
Our CEP work is a long-term project that is identifying and promoting the most effective ways to overcome barriers to eye health, especially for those most at risk. Ultimately learning from the CEPs will be shared across the NHS leading to a reduction in sight loss.
National Eye Health Week delivered eye health messages through television, newspapers, magazines, and events across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, engaging with GPs, politicians and the general public. We believe this exposure to new information on the importance of eye health will have a similar effect to our GP training work where nearly nine in ten GPs engaged reported their intention to modify their clinical practice in relation to eye health.
About your sight
Our goal: Increase people’s access to appropriate eyecare and understanding to manage their own eye health.
In May this year we launched our Save Our Sight campaign to improve access to the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of the four leading causes of blindness. We initially focused on access to cataract treatment throughout the UK, highlighting the fact that over half of primary care trusts in England are forcing people to live with unnecessary sight loss.
Our Eye Health Information Service provides the specialist information people require when they have been diagnosed with a sight threatening eye condition. This year the service dealt with over 4,400 direct enquiries. Over 235,000 copies of our Department of Health-approved “Understanding” series of eye health leaflets were distributed during the year. We also produced audio and text versions of the most popular leaflets in community ethnic languages, which are available from our website at
rnib.org.uk/eyehealth
Our impact
Through our Save Our Sight campaign we have challenged restrictive cataract treatment policies and succeeded in overturning restrictions in seven PCTs with a further 26 currently reviewing their policies as a direct result of our intervention. We also managed to overturn policies in 14 of the 19 PCTs we challenged regarding their service for the treatment of retinal vein occlusion (RVO). We have successfully lobbied NICE to get a number of sight-saving new drugs made available on the NHS, including Eylea for the treatment of wet AMD. All of this fantastic work will ensure fewer people unnecessarily losing their sight.
We also know how effective and important our Eye Health Information Service is. In this year’s impact survey, 74 per cent of respondents felt that the information they received was better than the information they had received from other sources.
“The information you gave me was much better – the eye nurse specialist knew nothing about my situation and was rather dismissive of what I said.”
User of the Eye Health Information Service
75 per cent of respondents to the survey felt more in control of their situation as a result of talking to the Eye Health Information Service.
“The information was not scary and it made sense. I was able to listen to it several times which helped me to understand it better. It made me feel included and not left out. They gave me time, before I was anxious and worried.”
User of the Eye Health Information Service
Carla’s story
Our Eye Health Information Service helps people better understand their eye condition and potential treatment, which is vitally important to many people coming to terms with losing their sight. Carla contacted us when she wanted to find out more about laser treatment for her glaucoma.
She said, “I have been impressed with the compassionate tone and the level of knowledge. I leave every conversation not questioning anything. I feel reassured that what I am told is factually correct. Everyone communicates incredibly well, I never feel rushed, in fact I feel like they want to stay on the phone till I’ve exhausted all the possible questions I might want to ask.”
Supporting independent living
We are committed to helping people with a sight problem maintain their independence and lead full and active lives.
Highlights of our work
We are immensely proud of the fact that our Helpline was able to deal with more enquiries this year than in any previous year. People contacted us with over 466,000 enquiries during the year. These enquiries are increasingly complex as people need our support to come to terms with the impact of the economic climate and changes to benefit systems and support services on living with sight loss. We continue to support people in claiming and receiving the benefits they are entitled to and speak up for the needs of blind and partially sighted people when changes to welfare legislation are discussed. This year we had fantastic impact securing improvements to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) criteria for blind people.
We have increased the quantity and quality of support available to people in eye clinics at the emotional time when they are diagnosed with a sight-threatening eye condition. This year across RNIB and Action for Blind People, and throughout the UK, we have supported just under 19,000 people at this critical time.
More than 30,000 people received face-to-face support around the products and aids available to help people live with sight loss. There are more than 40,000 people receiving books and magazines in a format they can read from our National Library Service, and RNIB Membership is at its highest level for two years.
This year we supported 279 children and young people and 207 people aged 19–25 to ensure they have the same level of access to educational opportunities as their sighted peers. We have launched the free Load2Learn service supplying pupils and professionals with online accessible resources for students with sight problems.
We continue to be very proud of the recognition that our schools, colleges and care homes are receiving for their excellent provision. We were honoured by HRH Princess Anne opening our RNIB Pears Centre for Specialist Learning.
Finally, as part of the Vision 2020 Future of rehab group we developed the Adult UK Sight Loss Pathway to support blind and partially sighted people to get the right support, at the right time, from the right people.
Our goals and impact
Increasing independence
Our goal: Increase the awareness of blind and partially sighted people to manage their sight loss and increase their awareness of social services and services in the community appropriate to their needs.
This year we have been able to increase the reach and quality of eye clinic support available to people at the point of diagnosis. Eye Clinic Liaison Officers (ECLOs) from RNIB and Action for Blind People have supported 18,840 people during the year, and overall support is now available for patients in nearly half of eye clinics across the UK. To improve quality we have trained a record 42 people on our Eye Clinic Support Studies Course and begun the SEARCH project (Support for Early Reach in Clinics and Hospitals) to increase the confidence and competence of volunteers within the sight loss sector who support those at the point of diagnosis.
Our Helpline gave information, support and advice to a record number of people during the year, and this despite the fact that we once again saw an increase in the complexity of the enquiries we were receiving with people struggling to come to terms with the impact of the depressed economic climate on their lives.