Sight Action  is a charity based in Inverness and provides services to blind and partially sighted people in the Highlands and across the Western Isles.  Since 2008 we have been funded by NHS Highland to provide these services.  There has been no increase in funding since 2008 and in fact there was a 10% cut in 2010/11.

In 2008 we had 1100 Visually Impaired people on our register and 6 qualified workers plus a full admin team.  We now have over 2700 people of whom 140 are babies and children on our register and 3 qualified workers and a much smaller admin team.

NHS HIGHLAND is currently restructuring services for adult care and have extended the contract twice in the past year and in December 2019 asked Sight Action again to extend from March-June 2020 without an increase in funding.

Costs to provide services cannot be met on this funding and we were asked to reduce services, but having considered this we felt in good conscience we could not reduce the service.  How do you choose?  Do you not see a new born Visually Impaired baby? Or an elderly person who is burning themselves trying to cook, or not going out because they are too scared to try and cross the road?

So we said we could not do this and the result is that as of 31st March Sight Action will no longer provide the service.  This is not what we want.

It is now likely that NHS HIGHLAND intend to take the services in-house and this may well mean a much reduced service provided by people who although qualified in other areas will not be qualified in visual impairment.

Sight Action visits people at home, schools, colleges or the workplace and people come to our Resource Center.  We assess all areas of independence and offer professional support and advice and give safety equipment and information on other equipment and services available and also provide training to enable Visually Impaired people to live safely and independently at home or in the workplace.  We also provide training in the kitchen and to enable people to move around safely without bumping into other people, or obstacles like doors and furniture and so that a Visually Impaired person can go out and manoeuvre around their environment safely without tripping on kerbs/stairs and can cross the road safely.  Many of the children and adults we work with have other disabilities or health issues along side their visual impairment.  Add all of that up and it is easy to see why depression, isolation and loneliness in people with disabilities are a growing concern.

This level of input will be unlikely to happen if the service is taken in house.  NHS will possibly provide a more basic service and put added pressure on the staff there who will be asked to take on this work.  

The result - possibly longer waiting times for Visually Impaired people to be seen.  More People are liable to get injured at home.  More Visually Impaired people not going out because they don’t feel safe.  Those that do go out will be at greater risk of falling and seriously injuring themselves.

Visually Impaired people will not get the support they do now at home, either emotionally or practically and Visually Impaired children and families will also loose because there will be no support outside of school hours or during holidays.  Babies who need vitally important input will also not have the input they need at such an early and crucial stage.  It is heart breaking for a new parent to be told they have a Visually Impaired baby.  Who will provide the emotional and practical support they need?

The service Sight Action provides helps prevent accidents at home and trips and falls outside and in the long term saves the NHS money.

Whilst we have to date had an excellent partnership with NHS apart from the funding issues and appreciate NHS needs to save money, let’s not do it at the expense of the safety of the people who need support the most.

We are an ageing population and as we get older, vision loss is one of the things most likely to happen.  What kind of service would you want?  What service do you want for your Visually Impaired family member?

If you feel you can and you wish to do so please support our petition  to keep the service with Sight Action, the organisation that has the knowledge and skills to provide it best.