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ECLO services at Richard Desmond Children’s Eye Centre (RDCEC)

Our family support specialists and Eye clinic liaison officers (ECLOs) are available to assist those living with sight loss. This includes patients, their relatives and carers.

Your ECLO can provide advice and support on:

  • Living with sight loss and remaining independent.
  • Coping with and managing particular eye conditions.
  • Services outside the hospital including social services, local support groups and national organisations for people with sight loss.
  • Registering with the local council and getting a Certificate of Vision Impairment (CVI).

Our family support service and eye care liaison officer (ECLO) are dedicated to providing both practical and emotional support to families who are navigating the challenges of a child's vision impairment.

These services are a vital component of our holistic care approach, ensuring that families receive the resources and guidance they need beyond the medical aspects of treatment. 

They can assist with the following:

A cartoon-style hospital consultation room with a smiling person talking to a family. Everyone is sitting down and there is paper on a lower table in the middle.
  • Babies: babies with a significant vision impairment
  • Patients newly diagnosed: Parents and patients needing emotional support when they have received a diagnosis. 
  • Early development: Parents needing advice regarding their child's early development including recommendations on appropriate toys, books and resources such as Braille.
  • Education issues: If the patient is having problems visually accessing the curriculum. 
  • Visual impairment service: If the patient needs to be referred to a Vision Impairment Service. 
  • Certification of Vision Impairment: The family support service can begin the process and support the parents (pending consultant approval). 
  • Financial issues: We are able to provide advice on how to claim travel fares, DLA and PIP.
  • Visit Moorfields: Addressing any issues families might have regarding the experience at Moorfields e.g. Moorfields systems and procedures. 

Certificate of Vision Impairment (CVI)

How can I register for a Certificate of Vision Impairment (CVI)?

Your local council has a duty to keep a register of residents who are blind or partially sighted. You do not have to have your name placed on the register unless you want to. The term registration is often used to cover the whole process, but there are two distinct and separate stages:

Stage 1- certification

When an eye doctor (ophthalmologist) considers your sight loss to have reached a certain threshold; either sight impaired or severely sight impaired, they will offer to complete a Certificate of Vision Impairment (CVI) to indicate that you are eligible to be registered with your local council.

You will then be asked to sign the form/certificate to complete the first stage of the registration process.

Stage 2- registration (in the community)

When the council receives a copy of your Certificate of Vision Impairment (CVI), someone should contact you and invite you to register as sight impaired or severely sight impaired. They will put you in contact with your local sensory impairment department.

Sensory impairment department

What is the sensory impairment department?

The sensory impairment department helps anyone who has a degree of sight loss. They are able to provide services like social work support, general advice, vision rehabilitation, practical support and mobility training.

Please contact your local eye clinic liaison officer if there are any delays to the procedure above. Moorfields patients can be referred to our ECLO services by their hospital, eye health professional, optician, GP, social services team or other health specialist.