Medidas cautelares previas a la demanda

4.1 Aims

The aim of the national survey was to generate an overview of the prevalence, organisational models and capacity of VR provision currently available to people with visual impairment in England, and to identify where there might be gaps. This was to take place in two stages.

In stage 1, the aim was to contact local authority commissioners of adult VR services to identify services that are wholly- or part-funded by English local authorities (LAs).

In stage 2 the aim was to survey VR services identified in stage 1, to provide detailed information on the characteristics of the VR service.

4.2 Methods

Approval and support for the national survey was sought from the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) in two stages. Approval for stage 1 of the survey was received in June 2013. It was agreed that approval for stage 2 of the survey would be sought once the content of the questionnaire was finalised.

4.2.1 Stage 1

Directors of adult social care were emailed via the publicly available list of ADASS contacts. They were asked to forward the request for preliminary information about existing VR services to the

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appropriate person. Specifically, this requested baseline information on:

1. Whether the LA commissions/provides a structured programme of rehabilitation for people who are registered blind or partially sighted or have lost their sight?

2. Whether the VR service is provided:

a. By local authority themselves i.e. ‘in-house’ b. Jointly with health

c. Contracted out to voluntary/independent sector organisation.

3. Contact details of the VR service(s) that the LA commissions: a. Name of providing organisation

b. Name of manager of VR service c. Email

d. Telephone Number.

Reminders were sent to those who did not respond to our initial request. Subsequently, as many routes and networks as possible were used to help fill in gaps in information, including: requests via Vision2020UK networks and Visionary newsletter, other networks suggested by members of the project advisory group and searches using RNIB’s sightline directory. In parallel, we searched LA

websites and contacted adult social care services directly by telephone to try and gain the baseline information. A copy of the email invitation to participate in the stage 1 survey and

accompanying information about the research is included in

Appendix 8. A database was compiled of available information for all LAs and key contacts to be used in stage 2 of the survey.

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Possible topic areas to be included in the questionnaire for stage 2 of the survey were identified, based on preliminary findings from the workshops and literature review. These were discussed by a

meeting of the project advisory group. A draft questionnaire was designed using ‘Qualtrics’ software, a comprehensive online survey package supported by SPRU. This draft was circulated to the

project advisory group and also discussed at a meeting of SPRU’s adult consultation group. (The latter group comprises people who use health and social care services, or provide help from the voluntary sector, and meet regularly to discuss and advise on SPRU’s current and future research.)

After incorporating comments, the questionnaire was piloted with three VR services, two in-house and one contracted-out service. Pilot services were also contacted by email and telephone to obtain additional feedback on the content and design of the questionnaire and its online performance. Further changes were made before submitting to ADASS. Approval from the ADASS research group was obtained 25thNovember 2013.

The final questionnaire comprised five sections which asked about the VR services funded totally or partly by local authorities.

Vision rehabilitation survey - questionnaire: section summaries Section 1 Organisation and structure of the VR service and

skill mix within the service

Section 2 Access, referral and assessment practices Section 3 Type and reach of service provided

Section 4 Assessing and measuring outcomes of the service Section 5 Costs and charges and experience of change As far as possible the questions had closed responses, so that results could be compared across services to gain a national picture. Questions requiring a qualitative open response were confined to instances where more explanation might be required

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and questions designed to allow respondents to comment about their service.

The survey was distributed via ‘Qualtrics’ on 28th November with a request to complete responses by 23rd December 2013. A reminder was sent on 16th December. A final reminder was emailed to

contacts on the survey database on 20th January and a reminder that the survey would close at the end of January was distributed via Vision 2020 UK (ltd), Visionary and London Visual Impairment Forum networks.

A copy of the final questionnaire, the email inviting people to

participate in the survey and accompanying information sheet about the research in general and survey in particular, are in Appendix 9.

4.3 Results

Out of the 152 LAs with responsibilities for adult social care

contacted, 100 completed a request for baseline information. This included one LA that replied that no structured programme of

rehabilitation for blind or partially sighted people was commissioned or provided.

Baseline information about vision rehabilitation provision was

obtained for a further 45 LAs using additional professional networks. By November 2013, a contact email address that could be used in stage 2 of the survey had been recorded for all LAs. For six LAs where information was incomplete, a generic contact address for the LA was used, rather than a personal or team email address.

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Table 4.1 Type of vision rehabilitation provision for local

authorities in England with responsibilities for adult social care

Type of vision rehabilitation provision

Number Percentage

In-house 101 66

Contracted out 32 21

Combination in-house and contracted out

6 4

Joint health and social care 3 2

Joint health and social care - contracted out 1 1 Social enterprise 2 1 No VR service 1 1 Unknown 6 4 Total LAs 152 100

NB: percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.

4.3.2 Stage 2

A total of 89 survey responses were received including two refusals, thus providing information on VR services in 87 of the 152 LA

areas. This represented a response rate of 57 per cent.

Responses to the questionnaire were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 21, generating descriptive frequency tables for each section and further manipulating data to provide insight into the types of service models.

Section 1 Organisation and structure of the vision