A MOUNT Gambier vision impaired resident has expressed his bewilderment Royal Society for the Blind has shut its doors in the city and pulled its regionally-based services.
Chris Wilson said the organisation now expected people to wait up to eight weeks for a specialist to visit Mount Gambier or travel to Adelaide to access a quicker appointment.
“I’m not trying to catastrophise the issue, but the biggest issue is that we feel deserted,” Mr Wilson said.
He said the office was a focal point for vision impaired people who wanted to seek advice, support or see the latest adaptive technology.
But RSB – which provides a cluster of services, including guide dogs and in-home assessments – has stood by its decision, claiming it would continue to service the region via visiting specialists.
“People who I know who are vision impaired do not jump behind the wheel and drive to Adelaide,” Mr Wilson said.
Mr Wilson said he did not want to criticise RSB because it had provided “without doubt” a good service.
He said the dilemma facing vision impaired people was there was no-one based in Mount Gambier to call for assistance.
Mr Wilson said he could not understand why RSB had pulled services given it would likely have hundreds of clients in the South East.
“The decision to pull services just does not make sense – surely RSB has some sort of benchmark they have to meet,” he said.
Mr Wilson questioned why RSB closed the Mount Gambier office and not one of several in Adelaide.
He said the office and its staff member was a lifeline for many vision impaired people given she would visit homes and bring in new technology for people to try out.
“There are now so many stumbling blocks, I am bewildered by it,” Mr Wilson said.
Mr Wilson – who is totally blind in one eye and has 60pc vision in the other – said there now was a “gaping hole” in regionally-based services.
“I have not seen anyone from the organisation since the office closed,” Mr Wilson told The Border Watch this week.
But RSB has reiterated its commitment to maintaining services despite the closure of its Commercial Street West office.
RSB community services executive manager Jody Martin-Rankin said the organisation was not walking away from Mount Gambier.
“With changes to the Royal Society for the Blind’s service delivery in Mount Gambier and the Limestone Coast, we realise there may be some confusion regarding the RSB’s future in the region,” Ms Martin-Rankin said.
“We would like to reassure current and possible future clients the RSB is fully committed to maintaining current services.”
She said services provided by the RSB were almost always “exclusively” delivered in the home or workplace.
“This meant our Mount Gambier office was regularly left unattended,” Ms Martin-Rankin said.
When the RSB staff member based in Mount Gambier made the decision to move on, a review was undertaken on the best and most cost effective way to maintain services to the region.
“The decision was made the best use of resources was for RSB specialists located in the Adelaide metropolitan offices to maintain services by visiting the region on an as-needs basis,” Ms Martin Rankin said.
She said the entire suite of specialist RSB services, including occupational therapy, orientation and mobility instruction, counselling, case coordination, RSB Guide Dogs, adaptive technology and health and wellness programs can still be accessed by calling 1300 944 306.
“The RSB will also continue to provide specialist support for those dealing with the NDIS and aged care processes and procedures,” Ms Martin-Rankin said.
“The RSB has been committed to supporting all vision impaired South Australians for over 130 years and will continue to do so into the future. “
