Hello everyone, Firstly I would like to introduce myself as the co-chair of the VPD CAG. I have been co-chairing with Sajida Hanif for about 6 months now, she has done a marvellous job of showing me the ropes. We would like to thank Kathryn Whitfield for chairing/co-chairing for the past two terms, she left big shoes to fill! We have added more experienced and committed Orthoptists to our small group; Aysha Asif and Jackie Bates.
This month we hosted our annual VPD webinar, which was a great success. We had 75 registered attendees and just as good turn out on the day. The theme for the day was understanding VPD in the wider Neuro diverse educational settings. We wanted to know the roles other professionals played in Specific learning difficulties and dyslexia in particular.
Dr Nadia Northway produced an inspiring key note presentation on why VPD is still an essential service that should be offered to all learners seeking better understanding of their visual difficulties that have not been helped by conventional treatment.
We were then delighted to welcome Sharon Wignal Occupational Therapist who spoke about their role in helping neuro diverse children and how they can help and when we could refer our patients to them. We had a great discussion about tests that are used by both our professions.
Following a short comfort break, Sajida presented the pilot project; HEE Funded South East Orthoptic Upskilling VPD course launch. The course director is Dr Nadia Northway and will be delivering from June 2022. The course is being hosted by Buckinghamshire New University at High Wycombe. 100% uptake of the training offer and includes our orthoptic support workers.
Aysha Asif then spoke about her very interesting research into Auditory Processing Disorder and the link with visual processing difficulties. We are looking forward to hear the follow on conclusions from the audit and the implications this could have on Orthoptic practice.
I was then privileged to speak about what Dyslexia is and how concerned patients can seek assessment. I have completed a Post graduate Diploma in SpLD/Dyslexia and so wanted to share some of what I had learnt with my colleagues, as this helps me answer many questions from my patients and other health care professionals.
Finally we were very fortunate to be presented to by Miss Sarah Mayling, Consultant Paediatric Ophthalmologist at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust. Her enthusiasm for Specialist VPD clinics and Orthoptists was contagious. As a Paediatric Ophthalmologist she acknowledged the benefit of a specialist VPD Orthoptist within the department and the benefits for the service user. She was able to advise us on how we can fight to establish and successfully maintain VPD clinics within our trust as they are essential for so many learners, who may be unable to access any help for their lack of clear vision or pay extortionate amounts of money by some private sector practices. We would like to thank Miss Mayling for her support of our niche specialty.
The webinar is available online for all BIOS members to view and we welcome any feedback for future events.
On a final note, we are in the process of updating our list of departments that offer a VPD service, which is used by the public. Please could you email vpd@orthoptics.org.uk with your current status in terms of a VPD clinic. We would love to be able to quickly compile a list of all active VPD clinics.
I would like to thank all of our CAG group for their continued hard work and expertise.
