THE AIMS
UKNEHS will provide vital data for the vision and eye health research community in the UK, for health policy makers and those developing and commissioning health services.
It will allow for more effective implementation of appropriate health services and delivery models and provide a critical data baseline to support future impact assessment of novel eye care interventions and service delivery models.
This will help government efficiently and effectively target spending and ensure that vulnerable groups are accessing the services they need to reduce preventable sight and hearing loss and enable people to participate fully in society. This means that we can get serious about screening and prevention of eye disease in the UK.
01
EFFECTIVENESS
for improved outcomes and experience for patients
-
Establish a common understanding of the number of people in the UK with a sensory loss.
-
Determine the prevalence and causes of vision impairment conditions across the UK by region and ethnic group, through gathering robust data for a sub-set of the population.
-
Contribute to improvement in the eye health and well-being of the UK population, promoting prevention to reduce risk and instances of avoidable sight loss and enabling people to stay healthy and independent for longer.
-
Increase national public awareness and action on eye health conditions, such that the public is better informed to recognise the symptoms and knows where to access treatment, as evidenced by consumer awareness data and an increase in the number of people receiving a sight test.
-
Provide the data necessary to baseline other programme interventions aimed at improving the nation’s eye health.
03
ECONOMY
to reduce the cost of public services
We believe it is prudent to 'spend to save'. As a direct result of the study we hope to:
-
Detect vision impairment conditions and follow signposted patients to appropriate treatment services at time of survey.
-
Improving outcomes for people and delivering an avoided cost benefit to society
02
EFFICIENCY
to improve the delivery of public services
As a direct result of the study, we hope to:
-
Support national public commissioning bodies and strengthen industry networks to target resources more effectively in areas of greatest need (clinically and geographically), to prevent visual impairment or avoidable blindness over the medium term
-
Provide data to inform and support targeted research into treatment for specific conditions
04
COMPLIANCE
to meet statutory and regulatory requirements and accepted best practice
As a direct result of the study, we hope to:
-
Enable the UK to meet its obligation to contribute towards the World Health Organisation (WHO) goal of reducing avoidable sight loss