Councils regularly assess people with sight loss without proper consideration of their needs. Access to care is becoming ever more restricted.
We urgently need to fix the care system to get a fair deal for people with sight loss. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reform care but we need your support.
The Care in Crisis lobby - 6th March 2012
On 6 March hundreds of disabled and older people lobbied their MPs in Parliament to urge changes in the way social care is delivered. Blind and partially sighted people also got involved, united in their belief that the care system is in crisis and in need of reform.
RNIB has joined with 50 other charities and organisations providing care services with the aim of securing additional funding for a system that is near breaking point.
We want Care Services Minister, Paul Burstow MP, to commit to publishing a comprehensive White Paper and Social Care Bill at the earliest opportunity but we have serious concerns the Government's Social Care White Paper, due for publication later this spring, will dodge the question of funding social care.
To deliver for blind and partially sighted people, MPs must:
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back the Law Commission recommendation that local councils should be required to maintain a system of registers for blind and partially sighted people
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recognise and commit to tackling problems in the current system, such as inadequate care assessments and difficulties accessing mobility training and specialist equipment.
To see the messages we pushed for at the lobby, download our briefing on the issues that MPs need to hear: