Call to standardise school screening in England

The Clinical Council for Eye Health Commissioning (CCEHC) has identified inconsistent services and pathways linking children who screen positive for vision impairment during their school assessments to ongoing care with specialist diagnostic and clinical management services. The CCEHC recommends:

A dedicated post-vision screening service should be commissioned for children who screen positive following their vision screening assessment
Services are delivered through locally agreed pathways and governance processes and locally agreed service specifications for commissioning are developed.

Parul Desai, Chair of the CCEHC Vision Screening Working Group, said:

“This report has highlighted a gap in service provision, and its recommendations serve to address it. Their implementation would provide assurance to parents of the care they should expect if their child screens positive following a vision screening assessment, and form the basis for local discussions amongst commissioners, clinicians and provider organisations on how best to deliver it.”

Wojciech Karwatowski, Chair of the CCEHC and Zoe Richmond, Vice-Chair of the CCEHC, said:

“Once again, the CCEHC has produced a report and recommendations which facilitate the understanding of local need and design of service provision by commissioners and providers.

The CCEHC encourages commissioners to ensure these recommendations are used to review existing arrangements and support the development of new services where they currently do not exist. Once implemented, this will serve to provide consistency in the quality and effectiveness of the care provided.”

Ed: What is not addressed is how accurate school assessements are before possible referral. Very often as recognised by SeeAbility, hyperopia, poor accommodation and poor convergence are not noticed. I worry that not dealing with this initial problem will once again reinforce parents into thinking there is no need for a full eye examination.

About the CCEHC

Vice Chair: Ms Zoe Richmond MCOptom, Optometrist and Interim Clinical Director at the Local Optical Committee Central Support Unit (LOCSU)

Secretariat: The College of Optometrists and The Royal College of Ophthalmologists

Member organisations: Members of the CCEHC are representatives of the body or sector which nominates them and are accountable to that body/sector. The Council consists of the following organisations/sector: