Attachment 2

VISION 2020 UK Rehabilitation and Low Vision Committee

Draft Minutes of Meeting, 08/09/16, 13:00 – 16:00 in Meeting Rooms 2 and 3, Lower Ground Floor at RNIB, 105 Judd Street, London, WC1H 9NE

Present:

JPChair – Jenny Pearce, VISION 2020 UK

ADAndrew Dodgson, Guide Dogs

BKBen Kitching, RNIB

BHBob Hughes, Sight for Surrey (representing Visionary)

CSCatherine Smith, BirminghamCityUniversity

ESEmma Sands, RNIB Cymru

JFJoshua Feehan, RNIB

JMJulie McCarthy, Blind Veterans UK

KRKen Reid, Scotland VS Group

LBLiz Bates, DeafBlind UK

MdCMarsha de Cordova, Thomas Pocklington Trust

MBaMary Bairstow, VISION 2020 UK

MBrMatt Broom, VISION 2020 UK

MCMatthew Carr, Thomas Pocklington Trust

MJMercy Jeyasingham, VISION 2020 UK

PBPaul Bowerbank, ADASS

PAPhil Ambler, Thomas Pocklington Trust

SBSharon Beckett, Sight Cymru

SLSimon Labbett, Rehab Workers Professional Network - teleconf

SMSimmone Miller, RNIB (deputising for Philippa Simkiss)

TCTara Chattaway, RNIB

In Attendance:

TKSecretary – Tayyaba Kamal, VISION 2020 UK

TMDr Tom Margrain, CardiffUniversity

Apologies:

Barry Duncan, ABDO

Peter Locke, Blind Children UK (representing NI)

Philippa Simkiss, RNIB (Simmone Miller deputising)

1.Welcome, introductions and apologies for absence (JP)

  • All attendees and newcomers BK, ES, JM, LB,MC, MdC and TM were welcomed to the meeting and introductions were given
  • Apologies were read out.

2.‘Outcomes of Rehabilitation Worker Input’ – presentation by Dr Tom Margrain(Attachment Item 2 - Confidential)

  • TM presented work undertaken at CardiffUniversity and led by Jennifer Acton on ‘Effect of rehabilitation worker input on visual function outcomes in individuals with low vision: a randomised controlled trial’ which was discussed by all.
  • The research is currently classified as it is in the process of peer review. It will hopefully be published by the end of the year or spring 2017 in the Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science journal. For that reason, the results of the trial are not presented in the minutes.
  • TM highlighted this trial and how its results differ from the 2004 trial by Reeves Harper and Russell (Enhanced low vision rehabilitation for people with age related macular degeneration: a randomised controlled trial’) which suggested rehabilitation workers do not provide added benefit. This is due to some main points, including that all their participants had AMD and they measured the participants feelings about eyesight, not visual function -
  • The next step will be to get funding for a definitive study which will take at least three years. The cost will be between £400k and £1m depending on the questions included to be researched.
  • It was suggested that the research proposal for the larger study be highlighted at the VISION 2020 UK Social Research Committee in order to investigate the tools needed to demonstrate cost savings to Local Authorities as well as Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs).
  • A working group was created in order to discuss what isneeded from a larger study. The working group are to have teleconferences rather than face-to-face meetings once the paper is published. It was agreed the working group members should include CS, JF/SM, LB, MJ, PB, Philippa Simkiss (lead), SL and TC’s replacement.
  • There were offers to promote the research once published by TC, MBr and PB. TC stated she needs as much notice as possible in order to promote this effectively and tie it in with other RNIB messages about rehabilitation.
  • It was agreed that an agenda item needs to be added to the next meeting to discuss promotion of the research.
  • TM also mentioned other recent publications he has been involved with regarding mental health and vision impairment:
  • Nollet, C L et al. August 2016. Depression in visual impairment trial (DEPVIT): A randomized clinical trial of depression treatments in people with low vision. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science.Vol.57, 4247-4254. doi:10.1167/iovs.16-19345 -
  • van der Aa, H P Aet al. August 2016. Psychosocial interventions to improve mental health in adults with vision impairment: systematic review and meta-analysis. Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics. Vol 36:5, 584-606. doi: 10.1111/opo.12313 -

Actions:

2.1TK to organise date for Working group to commence discussions via teleconference about what is needed from a larger study on effectiveness of rehabilitation.

2.2TK to add ‘Effectiveness rehabilitation’ study to the VISION 2020 UK Social Research Committee agenda after the Working group have met.

2.3TM to give TK () as much notice as possible of the publication of the Effectiveness of rehabilitation study. TK to then inform TC in order to create a campaign for it to tie in with other RNIB messages about rehabilitation.

2.4JP/TK to add item to agenda for next meeting to discuss the promotion of TM’s research in Effectiveness of rehabilitation.

3.Minutes of meeting on 24 May 2016, matters arising not covered elsewhere on the agenda, and progress against Action Log from last meeting (Attachment Item 3) (JP)

  • The following amendments to the previous minutes were noted:
  • page 1, Apologies section – Jeff Skip is from Deafblind UK not RNIB;
  • page 1, Present section – JF and SM left ‘30 minutes’ early (post meeting note from SM.);
  • page 4,4d Wales sub section – the Welsh Care Act ‘is’ mandatory;
  • page 7, 4b Information pack for newly certified people section, bullet points 4-6 to have SM’s initials by them (post meeting note from SM).
  • Otherwise the minutes were approved.
  • All actions from the Action Log from the last meeting were complete, except for item 4(a1) ‘Progress with paper ‘What Constitutes Good Practice in Rehab?’ as the case studies are being reviewed. After this, they can be circulated to the committee.

Actions:

3.1TK to amend minutes of meeting for 24 May 2016 and circulate to all.

4.Work plan – reports on progress against objectives:

4.1Local Authorities

a)Update on RNIB’s 'See, Plan and Provide' campaign (TC / SM / JF)

  • See and Plan campaign update
  • TC reported the 'See, Plan and Provide' campaign was launched in July 2016 and has been well received.
  • Meetings are being held across England with approximately 10 Local Authorities.
  • There will be a second push of the campaign calling on Local Authorities to ensure that vision rehabilitation is adequately funded to meet ‘See, Plan and Provide’ when they are setting their budgets.
  • NICE guidance
  • TC mentioned NICE are creating guidance on ‘Adults with lifelong or very severe hearing or visual impairment: health, well being and social care’ and suggested this be added as an item to the next agenda.
  • A timeline for the guidance will be published soon, then the topic details and selection of panel experts and service users.
  • RNIB will be submitting a response to all stages of the consultation.
  • Campaign Team update
  • TC announced her replacement for maternity leave is being interviewed for this week. TC will give TK the contact details for her replacement as they will attend the committee meetings.
  • TC introduced BK who is the new Assistant Policy and Campaigns Officer for Social Care and will be supporting our campaigning activity around ‘See, Plan and Provide’.

Actions:

4.1(a1)JP/TK to add an agenda item for the next meeting on NICE guidance for ‘Adults with lifelong or very severe hearing or visual impairment: health, well being and social care’.

4.1(a2)TC to give TK contact details for her maternity cover replacement.

b)Any further progress or discussion re. the revised ADASS position statement on visual impairment rehabilitation (TC / JP / PB)

  • The revised ADASS position statement went out in the ADASS network briefing three weeks ago so this no longer needs to be on the agenda for future meetings.
  • SL asked for the link to the ADASS position statement. MBr informed SL the link is on the VISION 2020 UK website -

Actions:

4.1(b)JP/TK to remove ADASS position statement from the agenda for the next meeting.

c)Monitoring Local Authority Care Act compliance (TC / PA / MdC)

  • PA reported a meeting is being held next week with RNIB, Visionary and Thomas Pocklington Trust (TPT) to look at rehabilitation services in London.
  • England Vision Strategy (EVS) regional perspective will link in with local societies.
  • An exploratory conversation is being held with Suzy England, Occupational in Dementia Care & Sight Loss.
  • Work is being carried out with Birmingham Local Eye Health Network (LEHN), CS, MBa and SM.
  • PA mentioned he will no longer attend the committee meetings as MdC will be attending on behalf of TPT.

d)Any reports of interest in this area from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland / Isle of Man (NI)

  • Isle of Man– There was no report for Isle of Man.
  • Northern Ireland– JP read PL’s email:
  • ‘..regarding registration with the Northern Ireland Social Care Council for Rehabilitation Workers. NISCC have just recently finished compulsory registration of all Day Care staff and compulsory registration of Rehabilitation Workers should start in the next couple of months. I have spoken with one of the Rehab Workers in a local Trust and they advised that in some Trust Areas within the province staff have been encouraged to register voluntarily in the meantime.
  • NISCC have two categories of registration, one for qualified Social Workers and all other Social Care Staff. Within the Social Care section it is my understanding that there is a sub-category specific to Rehabilitation Workers, which we as Children & Young People Habilitation workers also plan to voluntarily register under, as it best meets our role. Registration under this category requires an annual fee currently of £30, with a renewal application every 5 years. Over the 5 year period we have to complete 150 hours CPD, which has to be submitted online and can be checked by a NISCC Panel at the 5 year renewal stage. The system in terms of recording CPD is very similar to that of the CPD being rolled out by the RWPN.
  • I am running a workshop with the Rehabilitation Workers at the end of this month, so will be a good opportunity to discuss any specific work force issues etc then. Simon is also going to be at the workshop as well.’
  • Scotland – KR stated there was nothing to report.
  • Wales
  • SB reported the ADASS statement has gone to the government.
  • Newport local authority are no longer providing rehabilitation services as of 5 September. This is being closely monitored by the government. RNIB are prepared to mount a legal challenge.

4.2RNIB early intervention and rehabilitation project (JF/SM)

a)Progress with paper ‘What Constitutes Good Practice in Rehab?’

  • The ‘10 principles of good practice in rehabilitation’ were launched on 7 July 2016 and is being promoted across the country.
  • This is on the RNIB website -
  • The principles are underpinning the ‘See, Plan and Provide’ campaign for Local Authorities.
  • The project has been nominated for the Astbury Awards.
  • A workshop around CPD for rehabilitation workers is being held at the Visionary conference.

b)‘Sight loss: what we needed to know’ Information pack – feedback following launch

  • The information pack was launched on 25 May and is being piloted in three hospitals in London – WhippsCrossHospital, MoorfieldsEyeHospital and YorkHospital.It is also being piloted at two sites where there are no ECLOs.
  • There have been over 1,307 page reviews and 1,105 unique page reviews on the RNIB website, with anaverage of 6 minutes duration spent on the webpage.
  • An evaluation of the information packs will involve obtaining feedback from people who have received the booklet as well as capturing the views of stakeholders including ECLOs.

Actions:

4.1(b1)SM to report at the next meeting on the numbers of information packs distributed at the three hospitals where they are being piloted.

c)Cost avoidance study

  • Cost avoidance study is being commissioned with Office for Public Management (OPM) to demonstrate the value of Vision Rehabilitation services. It is currently in the second phase with data being analysed.

d)Other developments to report

  • Qualitative research of people with rehabilitation is coming out soon. This highlights inconsistencies in practice which may be used for continuing professional development to demonstrate what is and is not good practice.
  • A mentoring programme for training providers is being run in the autumn at two locations.
  • JF is planning to present at health and well being boards to engage with commissioners.

4.3The Workforce

a)Progress re. development of Trailblazer Apprenticeship Standard (CS / SL / AD / JF)

  • The first full meeting of the Apprenticeship Employer Group is being held on 29 September 2016 at Blind Veterans UK. Future meeting dates are set for 18 October and 16 November.
  • The Apprenticeship Employer Group consists of 13 employers and more can join later.
  • A standard needs to be written and submitted by December 2016. Then an assessment needs to be created for the standard. Finally training needs to be carried out for developers to deliver the course.
  • The assessment will be carried out independently, probably by Rehabilitation Workers’ Professional Network (RWPM) which will become an assessment. There are other assessment bodies who may be used instead.

b)Proposals for continuing professional development (CPD) (SL)

  • SL advised the meeting of the imminent launching of a new graduate diploma in rehabilitation studies at GlasgowCaledonianUniversity.
  • SL expressed concern that the information he had received from Glasgow Caledonian University indicated that the course content for the Orientation and Mobility module appeared to be much lower than would be expected for a qualification at this level, and if this proved to be the case, there could be risk to members of the public who receive a service.
  • It was suggested that SL highlight to the university the safety risk for members of the public who will receive the service and ask how we can work with the university to help them address this.
  • SL offered to draft a letter to GlasgowCaledonianUniversityhighlighting concernsand offer to work with them to address this.This is then to be sent to MBr to be circulated to the committee for comments.
  • Post meeting note:The day after the meeting, the course received its final approval. SL then contacted the course leader to seek clarification about the content and the process of consultation.This has been forthcoming and a number of concerns would appear to have been allayed.SL agreed to meet the course director in the New Year. The priority is now to support those students on the course.

Actions:

4.3(b1)SL to draft a letter to Glasgow Caledonian University highlighting concerns about Orientation and Mobility module and the unusually low course content expected for a qualification at a graduate diploma level. SL to send the letter to MBr in the first instance to be circulated to the committee for comments.[Post meeting note: SL to meet the course director in the New Year and in the meantime support course students.]

5.Thomas Pocklington Trust’s work on rehabilitation (PA / MdC)

  • See above item 4.1(c).

6.Updates from other related work streams or VISION 2020 UK Committees (if relevant)

  • Low Vision – formation of sub-group and mapping low vision committee structure (MBa)
  • Following the VISION 2020 UK Low Vision Priority Setting Workshop held in April 2016, TM was one of the delegates approached by VISION 2020 UK to work together to map low vision services and create a web based platform. This will be used by practitioners as well as service users.
  • The first stage will be to hold focus groups with people with sight loss and vision impairment as well as service users to find out what information would be useful.
  • The second stage will involve preparing a design brief based on the results from the focus groups which will take six months to one year.
  • There were comments that similar products already exist but TM highlighted this is different as it focuses on low vision services.
  • MBa is involved with the Clinical Council for Eye Health Commissioning, which is putting together frameworks for commissioners on how to commission low vision services.
  • Integrated Care update – Feedback following workshop re. establishing a Programme Board (PA / JP / MJ)
  • MJ informed the meeting that a high level Advisory Board has been set up involving NHS England, The King’s Fund and TPT.
  • A workshop was held last month, chaired by Professor David Croisdale-Appleby. The outcome from the day was to look at STPs which are to be identified by David Brown, from NHS England, and to focus on low vision services whose patients in Wales will be identified by Dr Mary-Ann Sheratt.
  • MBr and Beverley Duguid, TPT are drafting a project plan.
  • Does anything discussed today have an impact on Black and Other Minority Ethnic (BAOME) communities? (MBr / MBa / MJ)
  • MJ mentioned the BAOME survey will still take place.
  • The graduate diploma in Rehabilitation Studies course should address the needs of BAOME communities.
  • We need to consider how the 10 principles of good practice in rehabilitation are being used by service users and in particular the BAOME communities.
  • TM stated that his Depression in visual impairment trial found 43% of participants had depressive symptoms and there was twice the prevalence in the BAOME communities.
  • VISION 2020 UK Public Affairs Committee (MJ)
  • MJ mentioned that the VISION 2020 UK Public Affairs Committee is asking all the other committees if there is anything in particular they would like to inform Parliament, as they will be creating updates for Parliament each term and creating a constituency briefing in January.
  • It was agreed that it would be best if everyone discussed this with their External Affairs Directors and reported any points of interest direct to MJ.

Actions:

6.1All to discuss with their External Affairs Directors anything they would like the VISION 2020 UK Public Affairs Committee to highlight to Parliament in their Parliamentary updates per term and constituency briefing in January. Information to be sent to MJ at

7.Any other notified business

Disability and the built environment inquiry launched

  • MBr mentioned the Commons Select Committee are launching an enquiry about Disability and the built environment which is chaired by Maria Miller, Chair of the newly established Women and Equalities Select Committee.
  • It was agreed that we should be involved in this.
  • TC agreed to send MBr contact details for Michael Wilson as RNIB currently has a ‘Who put that there’ campaign.

Actions:

7.1TC to send MBr contact details for Michael Wilson regarding the disability and the built environment inquiry launch.

Meeting time