Meetings in 2007

APPG 23 October 2007 - Joint meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Eye Health and Diabetes 

 

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Eye Health and Visual Impairment and the All Party Parliamentary Diabetes Group held a joint meeting on 23 October to discuss screening for Diabetic Retinopathy.

 

The group was addressed by Dr Peter Scanlon, Associate Specialist in Ophthalmology at Cheltenham General Hospital, one of the leaders in the drive to tackle diabetes related eye disease.  Sally Sharman, a Diabetes Nurse and Retinal Screening Sister for Chelsea and Westminster and Sharon Sutton who shared her experience of living with diabetes.

Attendees were given the opportunity find out whether their local PCT is delivering a good screening service, heard about examples of best practice in screening, learnt more about what retinopathy screening involves and heard first hand about how diabetes can lead to sight loss.

  Patients offered diabetic screening 
  Sally Sharman presentation

 

 

APPG 11 July 2007 - The Cost of Blindness

Following the AGM and election of Officers, the group met to hear leading practitioners speak about the challenges we face and best practice in preventing avoidable sight loss amongst minority ethnic communities. 

  • People of African origin are four times more likely to develop chronic glaucoma than people of Caucasian origin.
  • Only 4 per cent of people are aware of the increased threat from glaucoma to the sight of people of African origin.
  • People from African communities are twice as likely NOT to have had an eye test in the last two years.

The group was addressed by;

Jasbir Behal, BME Community Coordinator, Birmingham Focus on Blindness.
Mary Bairstow, Low Vision Implementation Officer, Vision 2020 UK and leader of the Low Vision Steering Committee sub group on improving services for people from BME communities.
Mr Richard Wormald, Consultant Ophthalmologist and Head of Epidemiology, Moorfields Eye Hospital.

  11 July 07 Minutes 
  APPG 11 July 07 Presentation 
  APPG 11 July 07 Presentation 2