Blind and partially sighted people in East London share stories of vital eye clinic support service

Blind and partially sighted people and those losing their sight in East London have gathered together to share how a hospital eye clinic support service has been changing lives for the past 15 years.

When patients at Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone are diagnosed with sight loss, they can be sure of essential support from the clinic’s Eye Care Liaison Officer (ECLO), Kate Kotschy who is employed by RNIB in partnership with the NHS.

RNIB has employed an ECLO at the Eye Treatment Centre at Whipps Cross Hospital for 15 years. Over the past year alone, Kate has provided invaluable information, advice, practical support, and emotional assistance to 548 patients and 274 relatives and carers affected by sight loss. There have also been 277 occasions where professionals have received quick advice or information from an ECLO.

Kate, who has been an ECLO at Whipps Cross for four years, offers patients emotional support at what can be an incredibly difficult time, with a range of practical support such as registering for their Certificate of Visual Impairment, and accessing other services to support with benefit applications, testing and using technology and getting around.

Philomena Rackham, 86, first went to see Kate after she was diagnosed with macular degeneration 18 months ago. The grandmother, who runs a charity, said: “I was totally shocked because I thought I just had a cataract that needed sorting. Suddenly it looked a lot more serious, I wondered, ‘where does that leave me?’

“However, once I got into the system with RNIB and Kate, it was fantastic, and now I can go through each day as if nothing is wrong. Some days when it’s dull, my vision isn’t as good as it could be, but Kate gave me the tools to continue, to carry on reading, doing my flower arranging and running my charity.”

Philomena’s daughter, Fiona Duffy, a former head teacher, was so inspired by the support her mum received, she decided to apply for a job as an ECLO herself and now works at the Royal Eye Unit at Kingston Hospital.

She said: “The work that Kate did with myself and my mum, helping her get her Certificate of Vision Impairment, referring her to the Low Vision clinic so she had aids to live independently, was vital. The stars aligned with RNIB and I found a job as an ECLO at Kingston Hospital. I can now go on to help patients and their families to live well with sight loss with RNIB’s support and I can help patients like my mum and their families.”

Kate said: “ECLOs are so important because when patients receive difficult news in the eye department it’s vital to provide them with the information, advice and emotional support so they feel able to live well and be linked in with the services that are out there. It’s my job to link patients to those services that will mean they are supported to live independently.”

Helen Rowe, ECLO Services Manager for Whipps Cross Hospital, said: “It’s a fantastic service here at Whipps Cross. Kate goes above and beyond for all her patients and it’s clear they feel very well supported. She is also an integral part of the clinic and professional staff often seek her out for advice.

“We’re really proud of the ECLO service which has been at Whipps Cross for 15 years and in other locations for 30 years. We’re continuing to grow the service precisely because we know patients need ECLOs at the point of diagnosis.”

Gaya Ivanov, Senior Optometrist at Whipps Cross, said: “I think ECLOs are amazing. They help every day in my Low Vision clinic as the link between professionals and the outside support patients need to live independent lives. If we didn’t have an ECLO in the clinic so much of the support for patients would not be possible, so we are extremely grateful for the service.”

RNIB has recently developed its Eye Care Support Pathway which aims to ensure patients are supported at every stage of their sight loss journey, from visiting an optician through to living in the modern world with sight loss. ECLOs will play an increasingly vital role in receiving referrals at key stages of the patient’s journey.

For more information about ECLOs, call RNIB’s Helpline on 0303 123 9999, or visit our ECLO webpage.