Visual impairment telephone consultation clinic

What is the visual impairment (VI) telephone consultation clinic?

When your child is diagnosed with a visual impairment, we understand it can be a difficult and overwhelming time. We will try to answer all of your questions at your appointment, but you may have more questions or concerns when you leave.

The visual impairment telephone clinic is a way for us to answer your questions or discuss any worries you may have after you leave the hospital. As it is a telephone clinic, we will try and arrange a time and date to call you which are convenient and give you plenty of time to talk to us.

We offer this service when your child is diagnosed with a visual impairment, but it is available at other times as well, such as when your child is starting a new school and may need extra support.

We will answer your questions about your child’s eyesight and eye condition to the best of our knowledge. If there is something we do not know, we will try to find out for you.

We may be able to give you advice about how to help stimulate your child’s vision or how you can help them at home. We can also tell you about services which may be able to support you and your child.

We will not be able to give you test results. This will need to be done by your child’s doctor.

When will I be contacted?

Once you have been referred to the visual impairment clinic, a letter will be sent out with details of the appointment and your telephone number and address. If you think this information is incorrect, please contact us before the appointment so we can fix this for you.

We will always try to contact you as near as possible to your allotted time. Sometimes we may run over with consultations before yours so, we ask that you be patient and wait for 20 minutes after your allotted time before continuing your daily business. Please allow up to 30 minutes for your consultation.

Who will I be contacted by?

The service is run by Orthoptists who are also low vision specialists.

How do I access the visual impairment telephone clinic?

If you would like to speak to someone about your child’s visual impairment, please ask the clinician at your next eye appointment or you can call the eye department secretaries on 0114 271 7468. We will then arrange an appointment for your child.

Please inform the hospital if your contact telephone number changes.

If you are unable to speak to us at your given time then we would appreciate it if you could contact the hospital and change your appointment. You can also change your contact details on this number and we will use your most up to date number when contacting you.