City leaders back plans to extend ‘vision screening’ for reception age children in Sunderland

Sunderland City Council’s ruling cabinet recently approved plans to start the procurement process to award a new contract for child vision screening in the city.

Councils in England became responsible for funding vision screening for children aged four to five years back in October 2015, as part of a wider public health services offer.

The vision screening aims to spot problems early on including amblyopia, a form of abnormal vision system development, with early identification being key in allowing successful treatment to take place.

According to a report prepared for city leaders, other common conditions identified in vision screening checks include strabismus (squint) and refractive error (focusing problems requiring glasses).

For almost two decades staff from Sunderland Eye Infirmary have been carrying out vision screening for children in reception class across schools in Sunderland.

Although vision screening is usually carried out in a child’s school, if a child’s vision is not checked in this way families are directed to take children to a local optician for an eye examination.

At a meeting on July 13, 2023, Sunderland City Council’s cabinet agreed to continue funding the child vision screening programme.

This will see the existing service extended to March 31, 2029, with the estimated costs of £815,000 expected to be met from public health funding.

The cost estimate, which will be finalised following the procurement process and contract, also includes an optional contract extension for up to 24 months which will be “at the discretion of the council”.

Several senior councillors noted the importance of vision screening for young children on Wearside and referenced the new Eye Infirmary due to be built at Riverside Sunderland near the council’s new headquarters.

Councillor Linda Williams, cabinet member for children, learning and skills, said: “It’s really important that children are screened as early as possible.

“Being short-sighted myself my family didn’t particularly know until they said one day what’s the number of that bus and I said, what bus? So at that point I was taken to the optician and got glasses.

“There’s a whole range of different optical things that can happen to children and getting those sorted stops the pain.

“Just being able to see and your eyes operating properly is more than just being able to see, it’s that your eyes continue to be healthy.

“I think that ties in very much to the Eye Infirmary opening just over the road, so hopefully there’s no-one missed during this service so we can all have healthy eyes as we move forward”.

Councillor Graeme Miller, leader of Sunderland City Council, added: “I’m looking forward to all this being done and with the new Eye Infirmary, it’s very exciting.

“Like Cllr Williams, I had eye issues when I was a child but I got caught early and got my glasses, and so it’s very important we support our young people with this.

“So it’s a very good report and very welcome”.

The cabinet report presented to decision-makers added that failing to procure and award a new contract was “not a viable option”.

It was noted that the contract extension would “meet current and future needs, in accordance with the recommendations of the UK National Screening Committee” and “support the continued delivery of key health outcomes for children in Sunderland”.