News

The NHS is spending 10 times more money on treating sight related injuries than on prevention and independent-living support for blind and partially sighted people, according to a new report.

The report, 'Improving Lives – Priorities in Health and Social Care for Blind and Partially Sighted People', has been published by a coalition of organisations led by the Royal National Institute for the Blind (Scotland) and the National Association of Local Societies for Visually Impaired People.

Mike Cairns, director of RNIB Scotland, said: "If you are among the 87,000 blind or partially sighted people in Scotland today, the level and quality of the help you receive depends on where you live – it is a lottery."

Among other findings, the report concluded that nine out of 10 blind and partially sighted people are living on an income of less than half the national average. Six in 10 never leave the house unaccompanied yet most do not receive adequate mobility training. Two in three blind or partially sighted older people are not registered with social services.

While RNIB Scotland welcomed the Scottish executive’s commitment to improving community care they concluded that services for blind and partially sighted people were still being neglected. Cairns said: "We remain very concerned, however, that help for blind and partially sighted people is significantly under-resourced."

Copies of the report from RNIB customer services – 08457 023153. Click here for RNIB Scotland website.