Author Bio ▼

A journalist with 13 years of experience on trade publications covering construction, local government, property, pubs, and transport.
September 13, 2017

Get the SHP newsletter

Daily health and safety news, job alerts and resources

Report

Half of lifetime sight loss cases ‘avoidable’, warns charity

One in five people will live with sight loss during their life, but half the cases are avoidable, according to a new report by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and high street opticians, Specsavers.

The new statistics show 250 people each day begin to lose their sight every day in the UK.

Women, who live longer, are also at greater risk than men. One in four will develop sight loss during their life compared to one in eight for men.

Nearly six million people in the UK live with sight-threatening conditions. But 25% of people do not have an eye test every two years, as recommended by the College of Optometrists.

The extent of the problem means that nearly every family in Britain is touched by sight problems in some way.

More important than ever

RNIB acting CEO Sally Harvey said: “Our report reveals new evidence that one in five people will live with sight loss in their lifetime, so our work is now more important than ever. The eye health crisis looks set to deepen and the cost burden is destined to soar unless urgent action is taken.

“Almost 80% of people living with sight loss are over the age of 64, so with an ageing population that is expected to retire later, more of our national workforce will be impacted by sight loss.

“Alongside rapidly growing demand for eye care services, and capacity problems in some clinics at a time of growing budget deficits, we are facing an extremely challenging time for eye health in the UK, and we must take action now.

“We will continue to press for integrated services and effective referral and treatment for local communities as a key way of tackling the capacity problems in hospital eye departments. We will champion active planning that is based on the eye health needs of local communities and we will present conclusions from our policy roundtables to a parliamentary Inquiry on eye health services.”

Annual benchmark

The study, which is an annual report, has been launched ahead of National Eye Health Week on 18 to 24 September.

A YouGov survey commissioned for the report claimed 1.1 million more people took action to improve their eye health by visiting an optician since the campaign started last September.

But there was more still to be done, said Specsavers founder and optician Doug Perkins.

He said: “We are calling on political leaders, senior decision makers in health and social care, and local champions to work together to ensure that people receive timely treatment to prevent avoidable sight loss.

“Without this leadership the eye health crisis will continue to worsen and patients’ sight will be put increasingly at risk, deepening the economic burden that we already estimate will rise from £28 billion today if nothing is done now.”

TV presenter and journalist Anne Robinson is supporting this year’s campaign as eye health ambassador. Her own family experience of eye health problems saw her Irish godfather, who had a love of horse racing, lose an eye through cancer.

She said: “It was really sad – not only could he no longer watch television, but he couldn’t look up the form or do all the things he usually loved to do. This needn’t have happened as science has progressed so far that if he’d have been having regular eye tests he could have enjoyed those racing programmes until he died.’

“I now know that all of us, from the age of three, should be having our eyes tested regularly because of what an optician can detect.”

The report also reveals that:

  1. 10 times more people (78%) said sight was the sense they fear losing most compared to the next most popular sense, smell (8%), followed by hearing (7%)
  2. Almost a quarter of people are ignoring the first signs of sight loss; despite not being able to see as well in the distance or close up as they used to, 23% have not sought advice from an optician or medical professional
  3. More than 80% of people are not aware that an optician can spot the early signs of cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the UK
  4. People put their boiler before their eye health; half of UK adults have their boiler serviced once a year, over a third renew their mobile phone contract every two years, while 50% of UK adults last had their eyes tested more than a year ago or never#
  5. Research suggests Brits check their teeth more often than their eyes; 42% visit the dentist once every six months (equating to four times over two years) while 25% of UK adults haven’t had an eye test in the past two years or at all
  6. A quarter of people who spend £50 a year on shoes would not be prepared to pay anything at all for an eye test

 

What makes us susceptible to burnout?

In this episode  of the Safety & Health Podcast, ‘Burnout, stress and being human’, Heather Beach is joined by Stacy Thomson to discuss burnout, perfectionism and how to deal with burnout as an individual, as management and as an organisation.

We provide an insight on how to tackle burnout and why mental health is such a taboo subject, particularly in the workplace.

stress

Related Topics

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

3 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Katherine
Katherine
6 years ago

I am very short sighted, have astigmatism and type 1 diabetes, my lenses alone cont around £400. And you wonder why people put off eye tests…

Nigel Dupree
Nigel Dupree
6 years ago

Don’t forget the on-going denial as the debilitating symptoms of Computer Vision Syndrome continue to be dismissed as just TEMPORARY only lasting for three hours or more post coming off-screen thereby sustaining the occupational health myth that “no harm, no foul” Yet, the omission to address work related visual stress and eye strain driven by display screen equipment has cost a fortune in performance and productivity deficits now enshrined in presenteeism amounting to at least 20% across the average day or 1 day in 5 lost! You do the math as, 2017 is the Silver Jubilee of the completely ineffective… Read more »

Chris Hill
Chris Hill
6 years ago

I have had cataracts in both eyes before reaching 50 years old. Working outside in the construction industry I have come to realise it is also important to wear quality safety sunglasses when working outside in bright conditions. There are many good products available, but too often I see people wearing clear glasses provided by their employer. The same applies to people wearing prescription glasses who should wear sunglasses outside – typically UK opticians only stock plain safety glasses with clear clips on sides, whereas in places like Australia it is more common to wear wrap-around glasses with Rx(prescription) inserts.