Registration of blindness / partially sighted
These notes have been taken from the Department of Health’s CVI 2003 Explanatory Notes, Version 1, 6th November, 2003.
Certified Blind (Severely sight – impaired)
A person can be certified blind (or severely sight impaired) if they are “so blind as to be unable to perform any work, for which eyesight is essential”. (This equates to 100% disablement for the DLA deaf/ blind deeming provision.)
The eyesight, only, is taken into account, and that is measured by visual acuity, and also visual fields are taken into consideration.
Those who should be certified blind are:
- Those who have an acuity below 3/60 or 1/18 (tested with Snellen’s Test type).
- Those who have acuity better than 3/60, but below 6/60 with a very restricted visual field.
Certified Partially Sighted (sight – impaired)
Guidelines for this suggest that a person can be certified as partially sighted if “they are substantially and permanently disabled by defective vision caused by congenital defect or illness or injury”.
Those who should be certified partially sighted are:
- Those who have a visual acuity of from 3/60 to 6/60 (Snellen’s) with a full field.
- Those whose acuity is up to 6/24 (Snellen) with moderate contraction of the field, or aphakia (lens removal) or opacities blocking vision in the eye itself.
- Those whose acuity is 6/18 or better, if they have a gross defect of visual fields (of both eyes, such as hemianopia) or marked contraction of the visual field (i.e. in retinitis pigmentosa, or glaucoma).
The old BD8 form used for certification, has been replaced by the “Certificate of Vision Impairment, 2003”, and when this is signed by a Consultant Ophthalmologist, this becomes formal notification needed for registration.
There are also two letters, which can be issued to Social Services with regards to a patient, who is not currently registered but who has a “serious loss of vision”.
These are:
- The Hospital Eye Service Referral of Vision Impaired patient for Social Needs Assessment (RV1, 2003).
- Letter concerning vision impairment needs (LV1, 2003) – (Optometrist Identification of a person with significant sight problems).
This information can be looked up in more detail, on the internet http://www.dh.gov.uk/sensoryimpairment- “identification and notification of sight loss”.
Amended July 2010
