‘I’m 43, blind and stuck living in a lockdown with my parents’
A blind man has said he is living in “self-isolation” after being forced to move in with his family while he waited 18 months for vital support.
David Brookmyre, 43, from Middlesbrough, was forced to quit his job and move 50 miles away to live with his family last summer after the glaucoma he had suffered since birth rapidly worsened. He can no longer leave the house on his own or go out at night without careful planning.
“It’s almost like a personal quarantine,” he said Independent. “There is one route on the road that I can take with some caution because it is a quiet road to where I live, but other than that I need to walk with someone and so I was hoping to get some mobility training.”
Mr Brookmyre is one of thousands of visually impaired people who have to wait for local authority training, known as vision rehabilitation, to help them relearn and live independently. Experts warn that if timely help is not received, those with vision loss will be isolated from society.
A Freedom of Information request from the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) found that 20 per cent of local authorities including Newcastle upon Tyne, Brighton and Hove and Croydon in London were waiting more than a year to receive an initial assessment of the services people needed.
A staggering 85 per cent of local authorities failed to comply with RNIB advice to complete vision rehabilitation assessments within 28 days. The charity also found that some local authorities were unable to fill the role with qualified experts because almost a quarter had vacant jobs.
Alexis Horam, who has worked as a vision rehabilitation specialist for 30 years, said the service was vital to helping visually impaired people regain their independence.
After a “major life change” that means loss of vision, she helps people every day relearn basic activities, such as how to make a cup of tea or learn how to cross the road.
he said Independent: “If you can’t go out, you actually lose everything. You lose your social skills, you lose your friends, you lose your job… If not intervened in time… So I went to see suicidal people.”
Bhavini Makwana, 43, received support in 2009, more than a decade after she was first diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa in 1997 when she was 16 years old. In the 12 years she got married, had children, and moved around the country, her eyesight had deteriorated.
“The biggest thing for me was that I couldn’t find my own place,” she said, explaining that she felt “helpless” when she returned home from the school run without her daughter’s help. “A 10-minute drive used to take me 45 minutes just because I was trying to find my front door.”
A glowing yellow strip outside his front door helped cut the journey home back to 10 minutes, thanks to vision rehabilitation.
Vivienne Francis, chief strategy and public affairs officer at the RNIB, said people affected by sight loss had told the charity they could suffer years of isolation and low self-esteem without rehabilitation.
“Vision rehabilitation is very important in stopping this spiral and playing games with people’s lives,” he added. “It supports blind and partially sighted people to develop and regain independence, whether navigating public transport, cooking a meal or returning to the workplace. It restores dignity, independence and the ability to participate in daily life. But under-resourced services deny many people this chance.”
The charity called on health minister Wes Streeting to commit to taking these measures. blind and visually impaired people receive the emotional and practical support they need.
Mr Brookmyre’s local authority, Middlesbrough Council, said: “Sensory loss can have a huge impact on the lives of those affected and our sensory support service works with residents to achieve independence in a range of daily living tasks through appropriate assessment and support.
“We continue to develop the service with users and bring our vision rehabilitation service in-house, including our sensory registration and sensory registration cards that support residents in accessing our services.
“Our response rate for vision impairment certificates is currently 97 per cent within 10 days; a number of areas of good practice in Middlesbrough were highlighted at a recent meeting with our local RNIB campaigner.”
A Local Government Association spokesman said: “Vision loss and visual impairment can seriously impact a person’s quality of life and independence, and local councils can play a crucial role in ensuring as many people as possible can access assessments and support and care to maintain their daily independence.
“Adult social care has faced significant long-term underfunding and worker shortages, particularly in specialist areas such as vision rehabilitation, both of which are contributing to increased waiting times for care assessments.”
They added that local councils were doing their best to meet the growing needs of residents but sustained investment was required to deliver services.
A government spokesman said: “Everyone with sight loss deserves high-quality support to help them live independently. Local authorities have a legal duty to provide sight rehabilitation where it is needed and we expect regulators to take action if they fail in their duty. “Through our Plan for Change, we are working rapidly to reverse more than a decade of neglect in our health and social care services.”
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