In 2012 we had some great successes with our Save our Sight campaign. THank yo uto all those who helped us achieve them.
RNIB launches Save our Sight Campaign
On 23 May RNIB held a reception at Parliament to launch the Save Our Sight campaign which aims to end avoidable sight loss from the four main eye conditions, cataract, wet AMD, glaucoma and diabetic eye disease. MPs were given a "constituency eye health check" which told them about the standard of eyecare services in their area and what action they could take to improve services.
Preventing sight loss success
Macula oedema following retinal vein occlusion causes central vision loss which is used for reading, watching TV, recognising faces and seeing fine detail. Following in-depth engagement with NICE, led by Campaigns, Ozurdex is now approved for use in the treatment of this condition and can significantly improve vision if accessed quickly. In February 2012, RNIB wrote to all Primary Care Trusts in England asking them whether Ozurdex was available to patients. We had an 80 per cent response rate and found that (as of April 2012) 12 per cent had no service in place and 42 per cent had a sub-standard service. Since then we have kept the pressure on and with the support of NICE Chair Sir Michael Rawlins we have managed to overturn restrictive PCT policies on making the treatment available including for example in Wolverhampton.
Government commit to tackling avoidable sight loss
On 23 January the Government announced that the Public Health Outcomes Framework, which identifies health priorities for the NHS to focus on, will for the first time monitor rates of preventable sight loss.
The UK Vision Strategy team, which includes RNIB, have worked hard to show decision makers why eye health should be higher up the health agenda. Campaigners helped secure the success by writing to their MPs to highlight the lack of eye care planning in local health strategies.
This new eye-health indicator means that the rates of three major causes of sight loss: glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy will be tracked. In many cases sight loss from these eye conditions can be prevented if detected and treated early on. Tracking the rates of avoidable sight loss will help to identify and tackle health inequalities across England and spread good practice in eye care.