Screening saving sight of 100s

More than 400 diabetes sufferers have been saved from blindness by a Staffordshire screening programme leading the way for the rest of the country – Staffordshire Diabetic Retinopathy Service.

The organisation is on course to test more than 35,000 people across the county this year.

The service, run by South Staffordshire Primary Care Trust, holds community screening clinics in 60 opticians' practices.

A digital photograph is taken of the back of a patient's eyes and uses computer software to grade images to establish if there are any signs of diabetic retinopathy.

Retinopathy is a complication of diabetes that can lead to blindness if untreated.

Patients with signs of the condition are sent to hospital for treatment to save their sight.

Clinical director Malcolm Gray said retinopathy had been diagnosed in nearly 1,000 patients, almost half of whom were discovered to have their eyesight at risk.

He said: "We estimate the programme has stopped at least 400 people from going blind and that is a fantastic outcome.

"Diabetes is the commonest cause of blindness in the working population and digital imaging is recognised as the most effective way to detect diabetic retinopathy early on when it can be treated."

The service is on target to cover all 41,000 diabetics in the county by early next year.

They will then be called back for annual screening.