I want to make these points as a user of the eye hospital and as the chairman of the East Sussex branch of the National Federation of the Blind.

There have been very welcome improvements to the Eye Hospital over the past few years - it is much brighter and safer, especially as the entrance is now from the south.

The morale of the staff is high and I sense a good atmosphere there. They are always sensitive to the needs of their "clients", especially as people are usually nervous when they have something wrong with their eyes.

It is very important that none of the recent physical improvements are destroyed.

It has been quite difficult for blind people to negotiate the pavements and streets around the Royal Sussex County Hospital because of the building work taking place.

We do not resent this because it is all in a good cause and I would like to pay tribute to the helpfulness of the builders.

You might think a bare-chested, macho builder wouldn't bother much about helping vulnerable people. However, you would be quite wrong. Perhaps it is because they themselves are always working with danger.

I want to take this opportunity to point out a big weakness in the UK's eye health policy. Amazingly, eye tests are not free for most people.

The rationale for this is that if eye tests were free, more people would have them, more eye problems would be detected early and there would be more pressure on the NHS.

This is surely short-sighted (sorry!) and in my view immoral.

If you agree with my stance, please write to your MP to complain.

The Government is embarrassed about this policy and it is anxious it is not widely known.

-Colin Bennett, Hove