Swindon sets sights on reducing diabetic retinopathy
A bold move to head off diabetes-related blindness is under way at
Swindon PCT. 1st Retinal Screen, a Cheshire-based partnership between
care management company Health Intelligence and retinal screening
experts Sweetpip, has installed a diabetic retinopathy service at the
West Country Trust.
The service aims to reduce the number of patients going blind due to
diabetes by offering free screening to those at risk and seeking to
screen them as early on as possible.
Diabetic retinopathy is a specific microvascular complication of both
insulin dependent (type1) and non-insulin dependent (type 2) diabetes.
The prevalence of retinopathy is strongly linked to the duration of
diabetes: after 20 years nearly all patients with type 1 diabetes and
over 60 per cent of patients with type 2 diabetes have some degree of
retinopathy. A diabetic is 25 times more likely to go blind than a
member of the general population.
Over the next two years around 8,000 patients from 39 GP practices
across the Swindon PCT area, as well as parts of the Kennet and North
Wiltshire PCT area, are due to participate in the screening service — an
increase in screening figures of approximately 50 per cent — with a view
to increasing the number to 80 per cent by the end of 2006.
The system uses a digital camera rather than a physical eye
examination and patients who are identified as having the condition will
be referred direct to hospital.
Jane Leaman, Director of Public Health at Swindon PCT said: “This
service is important and different for two reasons: it means we can
catch so many more patients early on before they are at risk of going
blind, plus the quality of screening and support will be much higher
than previously available locally.”
The new service will comprise three centres and, in a bid to maximise
flexibility, patients will be able to select the date and time of their
appointment at any one of the three.
Source: bjhc&im November 2005
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