PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
SIGHT TESTS IN SPECIAL SCHOOLS (2 November 2015)

That this House is concerned that thousands of children with learning disabilities, who are estimated to be 28 times more likely to have a serious sight problem, are not accessing their right to a free NHS sight test; believes that work by the charity SeeAbility and others in special schools has shown that sight testing in a safe, familiar and convenient environment by professionals, helps a child co-operate with a sight test, understand the benefits of wearing glasses and to participate and achieve their full potential in school; draws attention to SeeAbility's report entitled, An Equal Right to Sight, which calls for a national plan to meet the eye care needs of children with learning disabilities in England; observes that paying optometrists the same fee for attending a special school as they receive for a high street sight test does not reflect the adjusted and specialist eye examinations these children crucially need; and, as a start, encourages the Government and the NHS to work together to create a comprehensive national programme and a properly-funded system to make sight tests available in all special schools in England, therefore supporting over 100,000 children in special schools who have the most complex needs.

Sponsored by:
Dame Siobhain McDonagh (Labour)