Hospital to Community; The value to stakeholders of community Low Vision Optometrists providing certification of visual impairment in cases of Dry Age Related Macular Degeneration

When vision is lost beyond a certain level, a person can be certified as visually impaired by a consultant ophthalmologist in the hospital. Certification as sight impaired allows registration with social services support access to some welfare benefits.

Currently the waiting lists for an appointment in the hospital eye service are at an all time high, people who need certification can often wait years before they get an appointment with a consultant, thus delaying access to these services. Optometrists that work in the community can undertake higher training which allows them to be specialists in low vision rehabilitation. There are changes in policy in Wales that would allow these specialist community optometrists to be able to certify vision impairment if a person has dry age related macular degeneration.

Our study will look at how it would affect the time taken for these vulnerable people to access essential services and whether having more accessible appointments changes the number and type of people that choose to be certified. It will the change impacts on people with sight impairment, the social care provision how it affects hospital and community eye care services including the costs. We will also look at how the changes could alter patients and professionals experience of the process and what their thoughts and expectations would be around moving this into community.