This October, Vision Care is bringing World Sight Day and World Homeless Day together through Right to Sight Week, turning awareness of eye health inequality into action and asking the optical sector to be part of the solution.
Running from 5 to 10 October, Right to Sight Week will shine a light on the barriers people experiencing homelessness can face when accessing eyecare, demonstrate how those barriers can be reduced through practical service delivery, and call for the wider changes needed to make eyecare more accessible.
Hannah Telfer, chief executive of Vision Care, said: “Right to Sight Week is about bringing two worlds together. There is an enormous amount of expertise, compassion and willingness to help within the optical sector. But unless you work directly alongside people experiencing homelessness, you may never see just how difficult accessing something as fundamental as an eye examination or a pair of glasses can become when you do not have a settled home.
“We know that awareness alone does not remove barriers. That is why Right to Sight Week is about action. We want to make those barriers visible, demonstrate what can happen when eyecare is taken directly to people, and work with the wider optical sector to create lasting change.
“Throughout the week, our teams, volunteers and partners will be delivering eyecare and showing what is possible when the optical and homelessness sectors work together.
“But charitable services alone cannot solve everything. We also need changes to the systems and policies that determine who can access NHS eyecare and how.
“Our vision is simple. We envisage a future where no one is denied the right to sight because of their housing status. Right to Sight Week is about asking our sector to help us make that future a reality.”
Right to Sight Week will also give the sector its first look at Vision Care’s forthcoming Partner Opticians programme.
Partner Opticians is being developed to give optical practices across the country a practical way to become part of Vision Care’s work, including in areas where there is not currently a Vision Care clinic.
Practices taking part will receive training, resources and support to build their understanding of homelessness and the barriers people experiencing homelessness may face when accessing eyecare. The programme will help teams consider practical aspects of the patient experience, including communication, staff confidence, the practice environment and how services can feel more welcoming, respectful and accessible.
Partner practices will also be encouraged to build constructive relationships with local homelessness, housing and support services, helping create stronger local pathways into eye care.
As the programme develops, Vision Care aims to build a national network of homelessness-informed optical practices that can be recognised and signposted to by support organisations.
Vision Care’s ambition is for Right to Sight Week to become an annual flagship campaign, bringing together awareness, service delivery, partnership, advocacy and innovation.
Optical practices interested in becoming a Vision Care Partner Optician can complete a short Microsoft Form to register their interest. Vision Care will then contact them directly with further information as the programme moves towards launch.
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