Health · England
Help with sight and hearing
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This guide is for people in England.
Ask for checks
Tell someone if seeing or hearing is harder.
Ask for changes to be checked.
An optician can check your eyes.
Tests can be adapted for your communication needs.
Ask your GP about hearing problems.
They may arrange a hearing assessment.
Support for sight loss
Ask about help with everyday activities and getting around.
Equipment and training may help.
An eye specialist may offer a certificate about sight loss.
Ask them to explain what it means.
You can choose whether to register sight loss with the council.
You can ask for support without registering.
Sight and hearing loss together
Some people have both sight and hearing loss.
They are sometimes called deafblind.
Ask the council for a specialist deafblind assessment.
The assessor should understand both senses together.
Ask for someone skilled in your communication method.
Ask for results and plans you can understand.
Equipment and urgent changes
Agree support for glasses, hearing aids and other equipment.
Write down what helps in different places.
Sudden hearing loss needs urgent GP or NHS 111 advice.
New eye pain or vision changes need urgent advice too.
Go to A&E or call 999 if you suddenly cannot see.
Sudden severe eye pain also needs emergency help.
What you can do next
Ask for assessments that work for you.
Ask about specialist support for combined sight and hearing loss.
Read NHS advice about hearing loss Web pageThis link opens another website.
It may use harder words.
More useful links
- SeeAbility: having an eye test — Easy Read Web pageEasy Read
Pictures and clear words about eye tests and getting support. Read online or download the booklet.
- Accessible eye care Web page
Information for people, supporters and services.
- Understanding combined sight and hearing loss PDF
NHS England guide explaining deafblindness and communication.
- Vision loss and support Web page
NHS information about assessment, practical help and registration.
- Accessible CVI information Web page
Includes an Easy Read letter about certification.
- Deafblind assessment guidance Web page
Use when asking your council for specialist assessment.
These links open other websites.
They may use harder words.
Sight, hearing and combined sensory loss
Accessible sight and hearing checks, visual impairment support, voluntary registration and specialist deafblind assessment.
Children and adults · England
Check changes rather than guessing
Tell a clinician about changes in response to voices, finding objects, moving around or taking part in activities. These observations do not establish a diagnosis. Sensory sensitivities and differences in processing information can occur alongside sight or hearing loss. Do not assume a sensory preference explains a new difficulty.
Arrange an eye assessment
Ask an optometrist, often called an optician, for a sight test and explain the support needed. Tests can be adapted; being unable to read or speak is not a reason to assume testing is impossible. Ask about extra time, familiarisation and communication methods. Free NHS sight tests and help with glasses depend on eligibility, not simply a learning disability diagnosis. Ask how to refer to an ophthalmologist, a hospital eye specialist, if a condition needs further investigation or treatment.
Arrange a hearing assessment
Contact the GP about hearing concerns. They can check for possible causes and arrange further assessment, such as audiology, when needed. Explain how the person usually responds to sound and communicates. Ask the service how it will adapt testing and explain results. Follow individual advice about hearing aids, maintenance and review.
Consider both senses together
Deafblindness means combined sight and hearing impairment affecting everyday life. The person need not be completely deaf and blind. One sense may no longer compensate for the other. Ask the health team and council about specialist combined-sensory assessment and support. Communication, information access and moving safely need to be considered together. In England, the council must involve appropriate specialist expertise in assessing an adult who is deafblind; separate ordinary eye and hearing checks do not replace this social care assessment. Ask the council’s sensory or social care team specifically for a deafblind assessment. Similar specialist guidance applies to children.
Visual impairment and practical rehabilitation
Ask the eye clinic or GP about low-vision services and referral to local support. Council sensory services may help with everyday activities, safe mobility, lighting and accessible equipment. Ask whether an Eye Clinic Liaison Officer or another advice worker is available. A child may also need the council’s specialist vision or multi-sensory education service. Agree practical goals and communication access, including emotional support for adjusting to changes.
Certification and registration are different steps
A consultant ophthalmologist can assess whether someone meets the criteria for a Certificate of Vision Impairment, called a CVI. With appropriate consent, this can be shared for the council to offer registration as sight impaired or severely sight impaired. Registration is voluntary. It is not required to ask social services for support. Some concessions have particular certification or registration rules; check each scheme rather than assuming every benefit follows automatically.
A deafblind assessment should consider life as a whole
Explain communication, access to information, getting around, social contact and emotional wellbeing, including how needs may change. Ask for a suitably trained assessor and an interpreter skilled in the person’s method if needed. For adults, statutory guidance requires specialist assessment when combined sensory impairment meets the deafblind definition, even when either loss seems mild alone. Ask for an accessible record of findings and the separate decision about eligible support.
Put the findings into practice
Ask for an understandable record of results and next steps. Agree help with glasses or hearing equipment and update communication plans. Check lighting, background noise, positioning and how information is offered. Ask the person what works. Support needs may change between places; share agreed information with school, college, carers and hospital teams.
Make support usable across settings
Ask how to get training and repairs for aids, and who to contact when needs change. Agree accessible information, alarms and appointments rather than assuming glasses or a hearing aid solve every barrier. A communication passport can explain positioning, lighting, hearing equipment and touch preferences. Ask how the plan will work at home, in education, work, hospital and unfamiliar places.
Know when not to wait
Sudden hearing loss, rapidly worsening hearing, or hearing loss with earache or discharge needs urgent GP or NHS 111 advice. New vision changes or eye pain also need urgent advice. If someone suddenly cannot see from one or both eyes, or has sudden severe eye pain, go to A&E or call 999.
Words you could use
“Please arrange accessible sight and hearing assessments. I also need advice about visual impairment support, registration and a specialist deafblind assessment where appropriate.”
More useful links
- SeeAbility: having an eye test — Easy Read Web pageEasy Read
Pictures and clear words about eye tests and getting support. Read online or download the booklet.
- Accessible eye care Web page
Information for people, supporters and services.
- Understanding combined sight and hearing loss PDF
NHS England guide explaining deafblindness and communication.
- Vision loss and support Web page
NHS information about assessment, practical help and registration.
- Accessible CVI information Web page
Includes an Easy Read letter about certification.
- Deafblind assessment guidance Web page
Use when asking your council for specialist assessment.
These links open other websites.
They may use harder words.
Where the information comes from
Links checked 1 November 2026.
These links open other websites.
They may use harder words.
- Public Health England: accessible eye care Web page
Adapted assessments and eligibility for NHS optical help.
- NHS: hearing loss Web page
Assessment, treatment and urgent hearing changes.
- NHS: vision loss Web page
Assessment and urgent or emergency eye symptoms.
- NHS England: deafblind communication guide PDF
Combined sensory loss and individual communication needs.
- GOV.UK: vision impairment certification Web page
England CVI process and accessible versions.
- GOV.UK: CVI explanatory notes PDF
Voluntary registration is not a prerequisite for social services support.
- Care and support statutory guidance Web pageFuller information
Paragraphs 6.91–6.97: specialist deafblind assessment and appropriate interpreters.
- GOV.UK: deafblind children and adults guidance Web page
Council duties, specialist expertise and appropriate support.
- NHS England: Accessible Information Standard Web page
Communication support for Deaf and deafblind people.
- RNIB: eye clinic support Web page
Eye Care Liaison Officers provide practical, emotional and referral support.