Karon and I would like to highlight some of the work of the CAG steering group and BIOS, that has been going, and is continuing behind the scenes

·         Development of a multi-disciplinary post screening pathway,

·         Development of PHE standards,

·         Annual audit of vision screening data

·         Responding to queries from BIOS members.

During the Covid-19 pandemic we have received many queries from members regarding vision screening and to help our members we compiled resources that could be used during these uncertain times. With BIOS we have recently published recommendations on dealing with the vision screening backlog with the Clinical Council for Eye Health Commissioning (CCEHC). Going forward we are continuing our work with formulating a recovery plan for vision screening post covid-19.

We have much work to do, but we are steadily making progress on our long-term goal of getting an orthoptic-led national standardised screening programme in England, to reduce health inequalities and to enable all children to receive the same care, regardless of where they live. To help us to achieve this goal we would like to take this opportunity to ask for new members to join our vision screening CAG steering group – please see advertisement for details on how to join.

We would like to wholeheartedly thank the vision screening CAG steering group and the support from Jigs Mehta and Julie Downdey in promoting vision screening and working towards the goal.

We would also particularly like to thank two members of the group who have sadly stepped down fron their roles within vision screening Alison Bruce and Helen Griffiths.

Alison stepped down as co-lead in September 2020 having worked as part of the CAG steering group for over 8 years, and over 3 as co- lead. Alison’s work demonstrating the educational impact of wearing glasses has, and continues to, support the case for nationalised vision screening programme.

Helen, who stepped down from the steering group in February 2021 worked tirelessly VS CAG for over 10 years with 6 of them as lead. She gained Public Health England interest in vision screening and was pivotal in developing the resources for commissioning and providing vision screening.

Helen has recently published the latest BIOS vision screening audit for the academic year 2018-2019. This audit as well as all previous years can be found in the members section on the BIOS vision screening CAG webpage.

Both of these ladies have made an enormous contribution to national vision screening and we are truly grateful for their work and wish them well for the future.

We will continue to provide regular updates of the work we are doing but for now take care and stay safe.