News

The latest news updates about Lincolnshire’s Diabetic Eye Screening Programme.

New services

NHS England have mandated that all Diabetic Eye Screening services are required to offer OCT to eligible patients within their areas. Implementation of OCT into the Digital Surveillance pathway will be rolled-out from October 2024 with an ambition that all services are offering OCT in Digital Surveillance appointments by October 2025. In addition to this, the Lincolnshire Diabetic Eye Screening Programme will be introducing Slit Lamp examinations into the service, rather than referring you to Ophthalmology.

What does this mean for you as a patient?

OCT

When you are moved into a digital surveillance clinic for R2 or M1 pathology, we will take additional images using OCT, which can be used to identify conditions such as maculopathy. This will help us correctly identify which care pathway you need to be in and identify when you need to be referred to Ophthalmology.

Slit Lamp

Some conditions prevent our cameras from taking images that can be graded effectively by our staff. This means that we can’t see if there are any changes to your retina. When this happens, patients have previously been referred to under go a slit lamp examination in Ophthalmology at hospital. Diabetic eye screening will soon start to offer slit lamp examinations within our service. You will only then be referred to ophthalmology when treatment needs to be considered.