A SPECIALIST unit at Salisbury District Hospital - the Wessex Sight Centre - celebrates its 10th birthday on Saturday, having provided visual aids for thousands of people with poor eyesight throughout Salisbury and the surrounding area.

The centre, which is now managed independently by Optima Low Vision Services Ltd, with funding from the NHS and social services for NHS patients, was the first centre of its kind when former prime minister Sir Edward Heath opened it in 1993.

Sight Centre co-ordinator and trained optician Peter Allen said: "The centre was unique when it opened because it was an integrated health and social services initiative that provided a range of visual aids which improved the quality of life for people with poor eyesight while they were at home."

Since then, the sight centre has moved on, with increasing numbers of people referred to the service by ophthalmic consultants in the hospital, GPs, optometrists, specialist social workers and teachers.

It has also broadened the range of products available to people through the centre.

Mr Allen said: "About two million people in this country have what we would call poor eyesight.

"Of these, about 400,000 are actually registered partially sighted or blind.

"We see about 400 to 500 new referrals a year, and each patient is given an hour-long assessment.

"This will take into account the quality of their eyesight and the personal needs specific to them while they are at home.

"We will then choose the aid or aids they will need to improve the quality of their life, and provide ongoing support and advice from the centre."

Magnification aids, such as hand-held magnifying glasses, binoculars and special television glasses, are loaned to people free of charge.

Aids such as large-face clocks, watches and telephone keypads can be bought by the patient from specialist suppliers.

There are even talking microwaves on the market, which can give people instructions on what they are doing and even tell them which buttons they are pressing.

Mr Allen said: "This is an important service and one that has helped so many people over a ten-year period.

"We shall continue to work closely with our partners in health and social care.

"Although we have no major celebration planned for November 22, we see this as a date where we can sit down and enjoy our achievement and look forward to helping people in the future who are referred to us because they have poor eyesight."