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Eye health indicator figures updated with 2013/14 data

11 August 2015

Public Health Outcomes Framework (PHOF) eye health indicator figures have been refreshed and updated with 2013/14 data.

These indicators track the rates of three major causes of sight loss including:

  • age related macular degeneration (AMD) – indicator 4.12 i;
  • glaucoma – indicator 4.12.ii;
  • diabetic retinopathy – indicator 4.12.iii;
  • indicator 4.12 iv “preventable sight loss – sight loss certifications” – displays all new certifications.

Prevention of sight loss will help people maintain independent lives as far as possible and reduce needs for social care support, which would be necessary if sight was lost permanently.

The Law Commission report (Adult Social Care, May 2011) recommended that local authorities should maintain a register of blind and partially sighted people (Paragraphs 12.15 – 12.18) and this recommendation has been accepted by Department of Health Ministers.

Completion of a CVI (Certificate of Vision Impairment) by a consultant ophthalmologist, initiates the process of registration with a local authority and leads to access to services.  Copies of the CVI are sent from the hospital to the patient, patient’s GP and patient’s Social Services who contact the individual to offer needs assessment and registration.

Another copy of the CVI is sent from the hospital to the Royal College of Ophthalmologists c/o Certifications Office based at Moorfields Eye Hospital for epidemiological analysis of new certifications including data on the main cause of vision impairment, providing data for the PHOF preventable sight loss indicator. The data captured by the CVI are Department of Health copyright.

Prevention of avoidable sight loss is recognised as a key priority for the WHO’s global initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness by 2020 – Vision 2020 – The Right to Sight, to which the UK is a signatory and which is also a key priority for Vision 2020UK, and the UK Vision Strategy. It is a particularly important issue in the context of an ageing population.