“Education in eye care is really important”

Can you tell OT about the expansion into Scotland, and what that means for Vision Care for Homeless People (VCHP)? Why was it important to come to Edinburgh?

The expansion into Scotland was a bit of a no-brainer. When we set our sights on opening 24 clinics in five years, our ambition was to move into Scotland, into Wales, and into Northern Ireland. Edinburgh is our first location in Scotland. We haven’t completely decided on other locations, but we might open in Glasgow.

It’s important for us to broaden our reach. Although Scotland’s General Ophthalmic Services (GOS) regulations are different to those in England, we still feel there’s a need for the care that we will deliver.

It will be interesting for us to learn quite quickly what that looks like, and how different to England it is. Under the Scottish regulations, everyone is eligible for a free eye test, whereas there are certain criteria in England. While everyone [in Scotland] will be eligible for their eye test, some people will fall under the radar by not having eligibility for the vouchers.

Do you anticipate having to do a large amount of outreach?

I think we always have to, in any location we’re in. Having met people here tonight [at the Edinburgh clinic launch], they are so grateful for us bringing the service to Edinburgh.

We’ve mentioned Glasgow as another location where there is a real need. I think bringing people in at an early stage, and engaging as many people as possible with the opportunity, will hopefully allow us to meet demand, and help us break down some of those statistics.

People experiencing homelessness are disproportionately more likely to have an eye health need, or an eye health concern, than the general population are. Having a regular eye test to check the health of the eyes will be really important.

We’re going to start with a clinic on Mondays. Because we have two completely sole use rooms, which is a luxury we don't have in any other location, there are no barriers to going up to two days. It will allow us to break down barriers to accessing to eye care, and to meet the demand as it rises.

It will allow us to break down barriers to access to eye care, and to meet the demand as it rises

Why are collaborations with other charities, for example Crisis, important to VCHP?

All our collaborations are absolutely key. We need Crisis to be supporting and encouraging their members to spread the message about access to eye care. We often find that referral agencies haven’t even considered eye care. So actually, that education in eye care is really important in getting them to refer into us.

But also, our collaborations are important for the work that we want to do in terms of policy change. Single voices, such as VCHP on its own, don’t tend to get the policy change that we need. It’s only with the full collaboration of the whole optical industry that we can make the changes that we need to break down some of those barriers.

What are VCHP’s policy asks for the new government?

That homelessness is a criterion on the GOS 1 form, so that every person who is experiencing homelessness will have access to free NHS eye tests. The same on the GOS 3, which is the glasses voucher, so everyone who is experiencing homelessness is eligible for glasses on the NHS.

The other one is about repairs. At the moment, getting glasses repairs is a really funny one. If you’re eligible for NHS glasses, and then you break them, they will only replace them if you’ve broken them as a result of a medical condition. If I broke my glasses the day after I’d picked them up, but it wasn’t for a medical condition, the NHS wouldn’t replace them. I would have to wait two years to be recalled for my eye test. We’re asking that experience of homelessness is a criterion for a repair or replacement.

The last one is to do with domiciliary services. You have to give advance notice of your patients three weeks in advance. We’re asking for that to be ended, which has happened in Wales already.

When people are experiencing homelessness, their lives might be quite chaotic, so they might not turn up. The best way to reach the people that we want to reach is not available to us at the moment, because these regulations are in place.

What has the value of tonight’s launch event been?

Having the opportunity to get people together, and to reinforce the messages that we are putting out there. Knowing that we’re pitching correctly and understanding what our beneficiaries need, and that they’re reflecting back what we think we should be delivering. That’s been a real highlight.

It been an opportunity to show Specsavers and our other supporters what we do. Hopefully that has come across, and referral agencies will have the confidence to send people our way so that we can start serving their needs.

Read about VCHP’s Edinburgh launch event here.

VCHP is currently recruiting volunteers across all its clinics. Find out more here.