Quality Standards for Services for Patients with Learning Disabilities
17 April 2014
There are numerous personal accounts nationwide of ways in which ophthalmologists have been able to enhance the quality of life of people with learning disability. The impact of an intervention to improve sight should not be underestimated. In 2011 The Royal College of Ophthalmologists, with the support of SeeAbility, VISION 2020 UK and the RNIB, published guidance for ophthalmologists on the Eye Care Services for Adults with Learning Disabilities 2015.
Developing its resources for the support of ophthalmology patients the College has now added quality standards for patients with learning disabilities to its suite of quality standards. They do not attempt to assess every aspect of the service in detail, but focus on areas where problems are likely to show where the service is under stress. Very few clinical services will achieve a perfect score, so the questionnaires can be used as quality improvement tools. The quality standards for patients with learning disabilities have been developed with the VISION 2020 UK Learning Disabilities Group and SeeAbility. We welcome any feedback on the document.