Parliament event puts sight loss in focus

Fatma Jagani from Vision Express with Paul Girvan MP

Nine MPs joined optical experts, ministers, charities and patients for a House of Commons reception last week to raise awareness of eye health in the UK and call for better funding to combat sight loss.

Vision Express joined its charity partner, the Macular Society, and Novartis Pharmaceuticals for the Vision for Life event, hosted by Jim Shannon, MP for Strangford and vice chair of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on eye health and visual impairment. MPs and guests received an Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) scan during the event.

Dan McGhee, director of professional services at Vision Express, said: “This kind of event is crucial because it brings together a wide cross section of UK policy makers, organisations and patients who are united that more needs to be done to prioritise eye health.

“New technologies, such as OCT scanning, is vital for early detection of eye conditions such as AMD and to pave the way for early pathways to treatment – often before any symptoms are being experienced.”

The event follows the publication of Seeing the Light: Improving capacity in NHS eye care in England by the all-party parliamentary group on eye health and visual impairment.

The report found that current and future eyecare needs of the population were not being adequately planned for or addressed. And that the current eyecare pathway was often fragmented and complex to navigate, causing patients considerable stress and anxiety.

The Vision Express partnership with the Macular Society and Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK aims to build on the report recommendations. They have invited MPs to table a parliamentary question to the secretary of state for health and social care to understand what the department is doing to improve UK eye health services and to table a motion for a debate on avoidable sight loss to be considered.