Registration

Registering as blind or partially sighted

If your eye doctor thinks your sight is very poor and is unlikely to improve, they will suggest you register your sight problems with your local health authority.

There is one register for those who are partially sighted and another for those who are blind. Being registered on either of these will allow you to get help with home life, mobility - getting around in your community, work and any further education courses you might like to take.

The help includes:

• Disability Living Allowance (available whether or not you are registered)
• Attendance Allowance
• Possible funding for education
• Concessions on transport, tax credits and your television licence
• Disabled parking permit
• Blind Person’s Tax Credit

What is registration?
If your sight cannot be improved by wearing glasses, you can ask your optician to refer you to a consultant ophthalmologist (your GP can also do this for you). If your sight cannot be improved medically, the consultant may tell you about registering as sight impaired. Being registered does not necessarily mean that you will lose all your sight; nine out of ten people who are registered have some useful sight.

What happens when I see the consultant?
The consultant will decide whether you are eligible for registration by measuring your distance vision and your field of vision; that is, how far you can see and how much you can see from the side of your eye when you are looking straight ahead.

If you meet the criteria, the consultant will register you as sight impaired (partially sighted), or as severely sight impaired (blind) by completing the Certificate of Vision Impairment (CVI). The form gives details of the assessment of your vision. It also gives other relevant information about your circumstances and your preferred format for correspondence.

What happens to the certification form?
You will be asked to sign the form to agree that a copy can be sent to your local council’s Social Services Department, your GP and the Department of Health. The hospital keeps a copy and you will be given a copy for yourself.

Your name will be put on a list held by your Social Services Department, or in some areas, the local society for blind and partially sighted people. Social Services will carry out an assessment of needs, during which they work with you to identify what changes need to be made to your living situation to help you adjust to your sight loss. This varies from region to region, so ask your optician, GP, consultant ophthalmologist, local society or Social Services for details of how the procedure works in your area.

Why should I register?
If you are registered there is a range of benefits to which you may be entitled. Some benefits are only available to those registered as severely sight impaired (blind).

• Welfare benefits such as Disability Living Allowance or Attendance Allowance, depending on age and circumstances
• Free sight tests for those registered as severely sight impaired
• 50% reduction in TV licence fee for those registered as severely sight impaired
• Railcard and other travel concessions

Can I get help before I am registered?
Usually, once you know that your eyesight cannot be improved by wearing glasses, before you are actually registered you can begin to receive help from your local Social Services team or local society for people with sight loss.

Hospital eye clinics can fill in a form, Referral of Vision Impairment (RVI), with your consent, to request help from Social Services. Alternatively, you can ask your optician for a Low Vision Leaflet (LVL), which tells you where to go for help, and includes a tear-off form which you can fill in and send to Social Services yourself to ask for an assessment. The address to send it to should already have been filled in.

You can also approach your local society for visually impaired people at any time. Call RNIB's Helpline on 0303 123 9999 to find out their contact details.