RNIB Scotland are delighted to announce the date and venue for our next Scottish Vision Strategy Conference, taking place on Wednesday 20 March 2024 at Radisson Blu, Edinburgh.
This event has limited places left. Please contact us via the details below to secure your place.
This year the event will focus on the eye care support pathway, and how we can better support people from diagnosis to living well with an eye condition.
Radisson Blu Hotel,
80 High Street,
The Royal Mile,
Edinburgh,
EH1 1TH
Wednesday 20th March, from 9:15am to 4:30pm.
This event has limited places left. Please contact [email protected] with the following information and await confirmation, to secure your free place.
10:00 - Welcome and opening remarks, James Adams, Director, RNIB Scotland.
10:10 - Working with the sight loss sector to impact change, Stuart McMillan MSP, Chair of the Cross-Party Group on Visual Impairment.
10:20 - Mental Health Impact: A service users perspective
Amanda Hawkins, Head of Mental Health, and Counselling, RNIB
Dr Mhairi Thurston, Senior Lecturer Counselling, Abertay University
10:40 - Keynote address, Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health
Jenni Minto MSP
10:50 - Support across the Eye Care Support Pathway - a collaboration
Julia Mosgrove, Chair, Optometry Scotland
Dr Paul Johnstone, Chair, Eye Health Scotland
Tom Ferris, Deputy Director for Dentistry, Optometry and Community Hearing Division, Scottish Government
Laura Jones, NHS Engagement Manager, RNIB Scotland
11:30 - Break
12:00 - Vision rehabilitation – ensuring everyone receives the support they need,
Laura Walker, CEO Visibility Scotland, and Chair of Scottish Vison Services Steering Group (SVSSG)
Jeni Queen, Trainee Vision Rehabilitation Specialist – update on Glasgow Caledonian Rehab course
Lewis MacLeod, Policy and Campaigns Officer, CHSS (Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland) and Right to Rehab Coalition
12:40 - Future Approach for Eye Care Services in Wales,
John Dixon, NHS Engagement Manager, RNIB Cymru,
David O’Sullivan, Welsh Government Chief Optometric Adviser.
13:00 - Lunch.
14:00 - Welcome back, Craig Spalding, Chief Executive, Sight Scotland.
Lived Experience Panel discussion:
Callum Lancashire
Janice Mitchell
William Oviatt
Hussein Patwa
14:30 - The Profile of Childhood Visual Impairment in Scotland,
Elizabeth McCann, Teaching Fellow – Visual Impairment, University of Edinburgh, and Chair of Education Committee, VINCYP (Visual Impairment Network for Children and Young People).
14:45 - Break.
15:00 - Workshops (Details below).
16:00 - Feedback from workshops.
16:30 - Close.
Based on the Eye Care Support Pathway.
The health of your eyes, and other health conditions, can be identified and monitored on your local high street. That is why initial appointments with optometrists is so crucial. We will discuss the critical support available for customers from regular free eye health examinations to glaucoma clinics, and how the wider sector can collaborate to support patients after their initial appointment to provide excellence of care.
Facilitated by: Julie Mosgrove, Chair, Optometry Scotland
Accessible information is an important way for individuals to understand their health and care needs, to ensure voice, choice, and control of their eye health. The ALLIANCE delve deeper into the lived/living experience of people who are blind and partially sighted, on the essential need for inclusive communications.
Facilitated by: Lewis Shaw, Sensory Hub Officer (Visual Impairment) The ALLIANCE
Providing the right support at the right time can ensure that people do not feel alone after their eye health diagnosis. Forth Valley Sensory Centre share how community support is key to providing confidence and resilience to individuals when they are at home, and out and about.
Facilitated by: Jacquie Winning, CEO - Forth Valley Sensory Centre
Children and young people with visual impairment, and their families, thrive when all professionals work together. This workshop invites attendees to share examples of good practice, and to identify how collaborative working could be improved both locally and nationally.
Facilitated by: Elizabeth McCann, Teaching Fellow – Visual Impairment, University of Edinburgh, and Chair of Education Committee, VINCYP