Blind people in England at risk from ‘shocking’ social care delays, finds report

The lives of thousands of blind and partially sighted people are being put at risk by delays in vital care that they have a legal right to after being assessed as visually impaired, according to a report.

More than a quarter of English councils are leaving people who have just been diagnosed as blind waiting more than a year for vision rehabilitation assessments and potentially life-saving support, the report by the RNIB revealed.

It cited the example of one person who died while waiting for council help. The Guardian can reveal that the case involved a woman from Church Stretton in Shropshire who had been waiting 18 months for an assessment when she tripped on a pothole and died later from head injuries. She had been trying to teach herself how to use a white cane, without any support or training, despite getting a certificate of visual impairment.

Councils are obliged to provide such help for those coping with a recent visual impairment under the 2014 Care Act. The support involves helping people cope practically and mentally with visual impairment at a critical time after a diagnosis.

The social care ombudsman recommends that councils should provide these services within 28 days of someone receiving a certificate of visual impairment.

But the RNIB report, which is based on freedom of information requests to councils in England, found that 86% were missing this 28-day deadline. The report, Out of sight – The hidden scandal of vision rehabilitation warned that the delays uncovered in the figures were dangerous.

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Source: The Guardian, 10 March 2024