OPTICAL directors from Specsavers North West London held a clinic at the Crisis Skylight centre in Brent at the end of January where they gave free eye tests and advice to people experiencing homelessness.
The special clinic was part of a nationwide initiative from Specsavers to improve access to eye care for people experiencing homelessness or facing other barriers to care – whether financial, residential or not being eligible for NHS support.
One in three people who experience homelessness need glasses, so the clinics, some of many running at Crisis centres throughout the country, offered an invaluable service to people who when experiencing eye and vision problems encounter obstacles to receiving eye care.
Sujith Weerasinghe, Specsavers Regional Relationship Manager for North West London comments, ‘Every day, we improve people’s quality of life by helping them achieve better sight and hearing. Unfortunately, for the thousands of people facing homelessness in the UK, it can be incredibly difficult to get access to this care. Working to improve this is very much a key tenet of our founding vision – to make expert care accessible to all of us.
As a charity working to end homelessness, Crisis supports thousands of people with education and training, and help with housing, employment, and health. Through its services across Britain, the charity helps people rebuild their lives and leave homelessness behind for good.
Matt Downie, Chief Executive at Crisis, adds, ‘We know that people facing homelessness meet significant barriers when trying to access the healthcare they need and can often go years without having an eye test.
‘Being able to connect the people we support to vital healthcare services plays a huge part in someone’s first step out of homelessness. That is why we’re incredibly grateful to have been working with Specsavers to deliver much needed eye tests, ear checks and advice.’
As well as running eye and ear care clinics at Crisis’ Skylight centres, Specsavers is collaborating with Vision Care for Homeless People, Big Issue and other homelessness services to create long-term solutions to remove healthcare barriers for people who are experiencing homelessness.
Specsavers is also calling for changes to government policy to remove unnecessary barriers that make it difficult for people experiencing homelessness to access the eye care they need. Long term plans include influencing policy and systems so people experiencing homelessness have access to free ear checks, eye tests and glasses, home-visits and replacement glasses if broken, lost or stolen.
