1. The costs avoided through effective vision rehabilitation services
Josh Feehan
Welcome to our presentation where we will be discussing an exciting new piece of research on the costs avoided through effective vision rehabilitation services
My name is Josh Feehan I am the Early intervention and rehabilitation project manager for RNIB
and presenting with me today is Sue Fritsch
My name is Sue Fritsch and I am the Operations and Development Manager for Sight for Surrey’s Sensory Service and reasons for involvement in this project
Sue slides 1,4,8 & 9

2. So why cost avoidance research?
Limited evidence base for the widely held view that vision rehab avoids long term costs
Critical need to educate commissioners of services on the financial impacts
Key additional tool alongside See, Plan and Provide and the 10 principles of good practice

3. Cost avoidance – the approach
Who are OPM? (Office for Public Management)
What is cost avoidance?
Underpinned by sound economic analysis principles including HM Treasury Guidelines
The work is support by assumptions drawn from primary and secondary research
Case study bottom-up approach to identifying costs and outcomes
Josh

4. Case Study site – Sight for Surrey
Established in 1922
Mission to support service users to live full and independent lives
Commissioned by LA to provide all sensory services in Surrey
Team structure
Support around 800 service users every year
Sue Fritsch to go through points

5. Methodology: Overview
Map the vision rehab process
Explored vision rehab service models
Documented case study model
Calculate costs
Interviewed professionals
Reviewed data from case study site
Identify outcomes
Interviewed professionals & service users
Assigned indicators
Assign £ values to outcomes
Rapid literature review
Identified proxy measures
Josh

6. Key findings – outcomes identified
Service user outcomes:
Functional independence
Personal safety
Social participation
Emotional well-being
Sue to go read four outcomes

7. Methodology: Identifying outcomes
“I stop and talk to people now, lots of people want to help when they see the stick and I don’t feel embarrassed to talk to them. My case worker was invaluable, she broke down my embarrassment.”
– Service user
Sue to read quote which is an example of identifying outcomes

8. Key findings: Costs avoided / outcome values
Total
Per referral
Overall
£3,423,844
£4,849
In health & social care system
£3,168,023.
£4,487
For service user, family / carers
£255,823.
£362
Josh

9. Example of outcome and indicator area
2. Impact area
3. Outcome
4. Indicator
5. Financial proxy for indicator
1. Increased functional independence
1a. Improved ability to travel (alone) outside of the house in local area
Reduced reliance on family members/carers for transport
Community transport cost
2. Increased personal safety
2a. Less likely to be injured from accidents in and outside the home and require ambulance
Reduced no. of ambulance calls/trips
Ambulance costs
3. Improved emotional state / wellbeing
3a. Increased level of acceptance of vision impairment condition
Reduced use of mental health services/ counsellors for stress, anxiety or depression
Mental health service costs
4. Increased social interaction / decrease in social isolation
4a. Service user has increased contact with people in the community, networks and friends
Increased no. of contacts with family, friends, networks and community members
5. Reduced anxiety about service user
5a. Increased confidence that service user has an additional source of support for vision impairment and decreased feelings of worry/anxiety about service use
Reduced need for accessing mental health services due to stress, anxiety or depression
Josh go through two examples – increased functional independence and personal safety

10. Example of Using the Cost Avoidance
Modelled their service using the cost avoidance evidence
Working with Essex Cares Vision rehabilitation service
Approached CCG with the benefits it provides
Agreement for funding one further vision rehabilitation officer

11. Next steps with research?
Supporting See, Plan and Provide by:
Raising awareness within the sight loss sector;
Engaging local authority commissioners and directors on financial impacts of good vision rehabilitation services;
Promoting the need for good evidence and research to support decision-making.
We’re asking rehabilitation service managers and rehab workers to:
use this evidence to protect their service;
explore if outcomes and costs for their own service can be mapped against this model.
We’re asking service commissioners to:
protect existing vision rehabilitation services from further cuts;
consider how they can provide good quality services for blind and partially sighted people which meet RNIB’s ‘See, Plan and Provide’ criteria and are informed by the ‘10 Principles of Good Practice in Vision Rehabilitation’.
Josh

12. RNIB Early Intervention and Rehabilitation Project
‘10 Principles of Good Practice in Vision Rehabilitation’
Best practice case studies
Sensory Manager Network
Apprenticeship standard and route
CPD for the rehabilitation workers
Raising awareness with health and social care professionals regarding vision rehabilitation
Josh

13. Contacts / links
Link to See, Plan and Provide campaign pages on RNIB website: This page includes details of the cost avoidance research, our ‘See, Plan and Provide’ reports, the ‘10 principles of good practice in vision rehabilitation’ and lots of other useful data and documents. Joshua Feehan
Josh