Vision screening of 4 to 5 year olds at school entry
Dear FOI officer
The British and Irish Orthoptic Society on behalf of the Clinical Council for Eye Health Commissioning are writing to make an open request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
There is a national recommendation, by the UK National Screening committee, to offer orthoptic-led vision screening to children at aged 4-5 years, mainly to ensure that amblyopia (reduced vision), is detected and treated at an age where treatment has the potential to improve vision.
Public Health England introduced service specifications for a Vision Screening Service in 2017. We are concerned that a Vision Screening service is currently not being offered to all children aged 4-5 years in England leading to inequality of eye health care provision.
We are aware that the responsibility for commissioning 0 - 5 year children’s public health services has transferred from the NHS to Local Authorities; and that in addition there are to be significant cuts to Local Authority Public Health funding which may affect these services
We would be grateful if you could answer the following questions (for the financial year 2019/2020) to determine the arrangements made by your local authority to commission vision screening for your eligible resident population and it’s quality assurance.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely
Questions
1. Do you currently commission vision screening in school of children aged 4-5 years old? Y / N
If YES, would you please:
2. List the key features of your commissioned screening service:
a. Settings (e.g. school).
b. Screening personnel (e.g. orthoptist, school nurse or other health professional).
c. The onward care pathway for children who fail the vision screening.
d. The quality assurance (QA) processes (audit) and identified clinical lead for the vision screening service
3. Tell us how you monitor if every child in your Local Authority has been tested (including those in private schools or those who are home-schooled).
4. Tell us whether the programme will be commissioned again in the next financial year
5. If NO- you do not currently commission a vision screening service in your area, would you please tell us :
a. why you do not commission vision screening?
b. whether a service is planned for the next financial year (2020/21)?
c. whether an existing service in your area has been recently decommissioned?
Information request
Our reference: 13300097
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Dear Sir/Madam
Freedom of Information Act 2000
Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) 2000, however we are unable to process further.
Guidance on the ICO website states that to be valid under the Act, the
request must include the requester's real name. As you have not provided a
name, we will place your request on hold until you can provide us with a
valid name to which we can respond.
I will not be able to take this matter further without this extra
information from you. Please let me know by 19/07/2019 .
If I do not hear from you within the timeframe provided, I shall take it
that you do not wish to pursue this request and will consider the request
closed.
If you need assistance, please contact me on 01245 324000 or foi
@gloucestershire.gov.uk .
Yours faithfully
Request Support Assistant
Information Management Services
01452 324000
NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email.
Good Afternoon,
Thank you for your email.
My name is Olivier Deneve
Secretary to the Clinical Council for Eye Health Commissioning
The College of Optometrists
42 Craven Street
London WC2N 5NG
Thank you.
Best regards,
Olivier
Information request
Our reference: 13300097
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Dear Mr Deneve
Request for Information (Reference: 13300097 )
Thank you for your request for information, received on 14 June 2019.
Request summary:
1. Do you currently commission vision screening in school of children aged
4-5 years old? Y / N
If YES, would you please:
2. List the key features of your commissioned screening service:
a. Settings (e.g. school).
b. Screening personnel (e.g. orthoptist, school nurse or other health
professional).
c. The onward care pathway for children who fail the vision screening.
d. The quality assurance (QA) processes (audit) and identified clinical
lead for the vision screening service
3. Tell us how you monitor if every child in your Local Authority has been
tested (including those in private schools or those who are
home-schooled).
4. Tell us whether the programme will be commissioned again in the next
financial year
5. If NO- you do not currently commission a vision screening service in
your area, would you please tell us :
a. why you do not commission vision screening?
b. whether a service is planned for the next financial year (2020/21)?
c. whether an existing service in your area has been recently
decommissioned?
We aim to respond to your request no later than midnight on 15 July
2019 (the statutory timescale of 20 working days, starting on the working
day following receipt of your request). We may need to contact you if the
request needs to be clarified; this is to ensure we provide you with the
information you require.
If the information you have requested is held by another public authority,
we will inform you of this so that you can contact them directly.
Gloucestershire County Council is committed to the principles of
information disclosure and will, wherever possible, provide all
information requested. However, some information you have requested may
not be provided to you; this will only be information that can be withheld
by law, and, in most cases, the reason will be explained to you when we
send out any information that can be released. We will also inform you as
soon as possible if we do not hold the information you have requested.
Our response to your request may be published in our disclosure log, with
your personal details removed. Our new disclosure log can be found on our
website at: [1]www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/foi. In future, you may find
that the answer to your questions about the Council has already been
published.
Yours faithfully
Request Support Assistant
Information Management Services
01452 324000
References
Visible links
1. http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/foi
Information request
Our reference: 13300097
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Dear Olivier Deneve
I am pleased to provide a response to your request for information,
received on 14 June 2019 :
1. Do you currently commission vision screening in school of children aged
4-5 years old? Y / N
If YES, would you please:
2. List the key features of your commissioned screening service:
a. Settings (e.g. school).
b. Screening personnel (e.g. orthoptist, school nurse or other health
professional).
c. The onward care pathway for children who fail the vision screening.
d. The quality assurance (QA) processes (audit) and identified clinical
lead for the vision screening service
3. Tell us how you monitor if every child in your Local Authority has been
tested (including those in private schools or those who are
home-schooled).
4. Tell us whether the programme will be commissioned again in the next
financial year
5. If NO- you do not currently commission a vision screening service in
your area, would you please tell us :
a. why you do not commission vision screening?
b. whether a service is planned for the next financial year (2020/21)?
c. whether an existing service in your area has been recently
decommissioned?
Please find this information attached.
Gloucestershire County Council has not withheld any information in
relation to this request under the exemptions of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (FoIA).
I will now close your request as of this date.
Yours faithfully
Amelia Banner
Information Requests Officer
Information Management Service
01452 324000
NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email.
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