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Press Release

MPs and Peers to hear views of people with learning disabilities on their eye health needs

22 December 2009

The Eye Health Alliance is supporting a unique event in Parliament where people with learning disabilities and their carers will be talking to MPs and Peers about their eye health needs. They will be joined by health and social care professionals, NHS managers and representatives from the Eye Health Alliance at the event on Tuesday 19 January 2010 from 1pm – 3pm.

One in three people with a learning disability have some form of sight problem and this listening event will highlight the difficulties of accessing care and treatment. This is a great opportunity for those people who have a learning disability and those who care and support them, to give their views and share their experiences of eye care services with parliamentarians.

The event is being hosted by SeeAbility, Mencap, RNIB and the Eye Health Alliance in association with the All Party Parliamentary Group for Eye Health and Visual Impairment and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Learning Disability. The event aims to address the issues around eye health needs and support of people with learning disabilities. In particular the event aims to examine the level of need for eye care services amongst this group of people, the barriers to accessing services, and what can be done to improve care and support for people with learning disabilities.

Heather Marshall, spokesperson for the Eye Health Alliance said:

"Eye health is important for everyone but for people who have difficulty communicating that they have a problem with their eyes, it is even more important to ensure that they have appropriate eye care and treatment. A person’s eyesight is often overlooked yet improving their eye health can make a huge difference to their quality of life and increase their independence."



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