A new service initiative of opportunistic retinal screening of inpatients with diabetes in Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

DESIGN. Service evaluation PURPOSE. To evaluate a new service initiative for patients with diabetes who are overdue their diabetic retinal screening (DRS) whilst being admitted in the hospital. METHODS. A daily spreadsheet of around 200 patients admitted in two main hospitals was sent by the Information Analyst team to the DRS administration team in order to identify which inpatients were due DRS. The wards were then informed, and the inpatients were seen in the drop-in DRS clinics. The demographics, grading, reason for overdue screenings, any diabetic retinopathy progression and reasons for referral were studied in patients admitted from April 2024 to November 2024. RESULTS. 36 patients were screened opportunistically, 18 females and 18 males. The age range was 46-88 years. Of these, 34 had type 2 and two had type 1 diabetes. Out of 36, 20 patients (55%) had not attended DRS in the previous years. Of these, 9 had not attended their first appointment, five had not attended for 2 years, 5 had missed appointments for 3 years and 1 patient had missed appointments for 4 years. Two were new referrals, 3 had been lost to follow up, 9 were due for a follow up and 2 were being followed up in Medical Retina clinics. Six patients (16.6%) showed a progression in their retinopathy, 4 had proliferative changes with 2 having stable proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and 2 with active PDR. These 2 patients (3 eyes) were referred to laser clinic for panretinal photocoagulation. CONCLUSIONS. This initiative is in the process of being written as a standard operating procedure (SOP) in conjunction with the NHS England Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) team with the aim of being incorporated across other hospital trusts. DISCUSSION. Of all patient who attended opportunistic DRS while admitted to a ward, 55% had missed one or more screening appointments. This initiative reduces the need to come back for DRS once discharged and improves overall uptake.

Citation

Pandey et al (2025). A new service initiative of opportunistic retinal screening of inpatients with diabetes in Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. European Journal of Ophthalmology. 35(1_suppl):1-44. doi:10.1177/11206721251331374

DOI

10.1177/11206721251331374

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14709/1293