The NHS Choices website has lots of information about diabetic retinopathy and may be the place to go for general information on the condition. This page aims to answer questions you might have about the screening service we provide.
Questions
Answers
How can I make an appointment to have my eyes screened?
If you are over the age of 12 your GP should notify the screening programme as soon as you have been diagnosed with diabetes. Those under the age of 12 do not require screening as they are not at risk of developing diabetic retinopathy.
Once your GP has notified the screening service, the service will invite you to an appointment. If you can’t attend this appointment, you can contact the programme directly to change this.
You should be sent an appointment to attend within 3 months of being diagnosed or referred.
How do I update my contact details?
If you move home, or change GP, we should be notified automatically by your GP. However if you have not received an appointment and are due for your annual screening appointment please contact the programme directly to ensure we have your up-to-date details.
If you change your phone number – either home or mobile, please contact the programme directly.
If you move home and/or GP so that your registered GP is not in Lambeth, Southwark or Lewisham you will no longer be invited for screening by our programme but by the programme covering your new local area. Your GP or practice nurse can provide you with the details, or you can find out how to contact the screening programme in your area.
Please bear in mind that if you have other hospital appointments and move house, you should also update the hospital as they will not be notified automatically.
Do you send appointment reminders?
If we have a mobile phone number for you, you will receive a text message reminder a few days in advance to remind you of your pending appointment. If you do not receive your text message please tell the screener you see when you attend who can update your contact details with your current mobile phone number, so your future appointments will be text to you.
I have my eyes screened by an optometrist/optician - do I need to attend an appointment with DECS as well?
Yes. An eye examination by an optometrist or optician is essential to assess the general health of your eyes, but in the local area optometrists are not accredited to carry out diabetic retinopathy screening.
This means that they do not have the same quality assurance processes in place which all NHS DECS programmes have. Quality assurance covers things like the type and specification of equipment, the training of staff, quality of images, and the accuracy of the staff assessing your images for changes (for example, in a screening programme a percentage of all “normal” images are reviewed by one other member of staff, and any “abnormal” images which show some changes are also reviewed by at least two members of staff.
We would therefore recommend that you attend your DECS appointment as well.
I have my eyes examined by an eye doctor – do I need to attend an appointment with DECS as well?
This depends on whether your eye doctor is examining your eyes for diabetic changes or not, and if they are willing and able to let the programme know the results of this. If you are seeing an eye doctor for another condition such at glaucoma, to be on the safe side, you should also attend for your Diabetic Eye Screening appointment.
If you have already been diagnosed with diabetic changes to your eyes and are seeing an eye doctor for treatment/or monitoring and have also sent you an appointment, please contact us as it is probable that you do not need to attend for Diabetic Eye Screening too, but we need to know about this so we can update your details.
I am housebound/unable to travel to the hospital, do you provide home visits and if not what are the options?
Hospital transport can be provided subject to the normal eligibility criteria for people who would otherwise find it difficult to attend hospital (this applies to the four hospital sites).
In order to have your eyes screened you will need to be able to sit upright in a chair and rest your chin on the chin rest of the screening camera. If you use a wheel chair you will need to be able to transfer from the wheel chair to a different chair that enables us position on the chin rest of the camera which enables us to take the photographs.
If you use a wheelchair and are able to sit upright but are unable to transfer from a wheel chair to another chair, then you can have your eyes examined in the eye department instead using a different piece of equipment. If you feel you fall into this category, please contact the DECS admin team to discuss this further, as it will ensure that you do not attend a screening appointment if you need to be seen by the eye department instead.
If you are unable to sit upright, or are the carer of a person who is unable to sit upright, please contact us. In the vast majority of situations screening is not possible, nor is an examination in the eye department available as an alternative however we would like to discuss this with the patient, their carer and their GP.
Home visits are not offered due to the equipment that is used. If you are able to attend the hospital and can sit upright, we are able to screen you in DECS or examine you eyes in the eye department. If not, please contact us to discuss this.
What can I do to prevent diabetes causing problems with my eye sight?
Good diabetic control is essential to prevent, or minimise diabetes affecting your eye sight and potentially causing sight loss. Your GP or practice nurse is responsible to help you achieve good diabetic control, and you should discuss this with them.
Can I still have my eyes screened if I am unable to take time off from work to attend an appointment during the day?
Please contact us as we are able to offer evening appointments Monday - Friday, on demand (usually between 5pm and 6.30pm). We also run clinics on some Saturdays from Gracefield Gardens Health Centre in Streatham and would be happy to see you there. Please contact the DECS admin team, 020 7188 1979 or email decsadmin@nhs.net who will arrange this for you.
I have moved or live outside of Lambeth, Southwark or Lewisham. Why are you no longer able to see me when I attend an appointment with the diabetes specialist nurse or doctor at the hospital?
The DECS eye screening programme for Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham is part of a national screening programme, which ensures that screening is provided to agreed quality standards across the whole of England. As with any screening programme, a key requirement is to ensure everyone is invited for screening, otherwise the programme would not be effective. Because programmes are organised locally, each one must have clear boundaries which specify their population. This means they can set up and keep an up to date register of all people with diabetes they are responsible for screening.
For more information visit the English National Diabetic Eye Screening Programme.
I am pregnant; do I need to have my eyes screened more regularly?
Yes. During pregnancy, diabetes can cause changes to occur much more quickly than they might normally so we would like to see you every three months instead. You should have your eyes screened early on in your pregnancy, usually at your first antenatal appointment with the diabetes specialist nurse or doctor, and then every three months during your pregnancy. Please make sure each time you attend that the person screening your eyes knows that you are pregnant.
If you are attending the diabetic antenatal clinic at King’s or St Thomas’ Hospital we will aim to make an appointment to see you on the same day. Usually your diabetes specialist nurse or doctor will have contacted us to book the first appointment for you, however please contact us if wish to make sure, or if we have sent you an appointment that does not coincide with your antenatal visit date.
Currently we offer screening to all pregnant women with diabetes attending the antenatal clinics at King’s, St Thomas’ or Lewisham Hospitals regardless of where they live. However if you do not live within Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham you will be discharged to your local programme for annual screening following your pregnancy.
Gestational diabetes (hyperglycaemia)
Some women who do not have diabetes can develop hyperglycaemia (high blood sugar) during pregnancy. This is known as gestational diabetes. Pregnant women who develop gestational diabetes are not offered screening for diabetic retinopathy.
I do not want to attend for screening, how can I get you to stop sending me appointments?
You can make an informed choice to opt out of screening. Please contact us to discuss this. We require you to sign a form and return this to us. We also suggest you only sign the form having discussed this with your GP, and being fully aware of the consequences that delayed diagnosis of diabetic changes could have. If there is a particular reason, or barrier for you to attending screening, we would like to know what this is as it may be something we can help with.
I am having problems with my eyes but I am not due for screening currently. Can I book an appointment to see you now, or what should I do?
Diabetic eye screening is not a service for people who have symptoms, but designed to pick up changes before they cause symptoms. If you have symptoms such as sudden loss of vision, pain or bleeding to your eyes you should attend the eye casualty service at St Thomas’ Hospital. These changes may not be related to your diabetes but as someone with diabetes it is important you get checked out as soon as possible.
I have a question/concern about diabetic eye screening that is not answered on this page
Please phone us on 020 7188 1979 or email decsadmin@nhs.net. Your query will be received by the administration team who will help if they can, or put your through to the most appropriate person to answer your query such as a member of the clinical team or manager.