Retinopathy screening

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PCM

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Type 2
I live in Staffordshire and the NHS is from this year taking the screening "in-house". Instead of an easy bus ride to my local optician I face a one and a half mile walk or two buses plus a walk. I am very tempted not to bother. Are other people facing similar issues?
 
I appreciate that you must be frustrated but regular retinopathy screening could save you your sight. I have a non-diabetic eye problem which causes the same damage as retinopathy so to get the best care I go every four months to Moorfields Eye hospital - tempting not to because it is a taxi journey to my local train station, one hour on the train to London, 30 minutes on the bus and then a 3 to 4 hour wait at the clinic but it is so important to do everything you can to protect your sight.
 
Even if the journey is more onerous you definitely need to keep going. I'm in the Staffordshire Moorlands and they moved it to the local hospital last year. Makes no odds to me really as it was 3/4 of a mile walk or so to the optician and around 1.5 miles to the hospital. I'm just grateful we get it done at all as the regular screening was only brought in I think from recollection in the early 2000's.
 
I would urge you to attend retinal screening however difficult the journey might be. It is priceless to know that everything is stable with your sight.

Retinopathy doesn't hurt and until you get advanced changes in the eyes you aren't aware that you have got it. I was diagnosed pre the introduction of the National retina screening programme and by the time I had problems I had advanced changes in my eyes that couldn't be rectified.

I realise changes in location can make things really difficult when you are reliant on public transport but would urge you to go to the annual checks and do all you can to protect your vision.
 
My local NHS did the same.
As well as hospitals, they set up days in local health centres, so no issue getting an appointment, in fact it's next door to the optician that used to carry it out.
 
Welcome to the forum @PCM.🙂 Do it or lose it.
 
Ours are done by a mobile unit that parks in the car park at the surgery.
 
Ours used to be done by the optician but the local trust decided to do it themselves and I go to the community hospital for the screening. This is no problem in principal altough it's inconvenient because it is yet another thing to do. Optician thinks they might be giving it back.

When the bloke at the screening asked me if I had any eye problems I mentioned I had an acquired nystagmus. He said... Whats that? Obviouly he had been given very limited training.
 
i was diagnosed with macular oedema a month after the blow of type 1, I went through countless eye injections, I underwent check up's every 3 months, I then had to have lasering last November and have another check up in a few weeks, these aren't done even at my local hospital so to only have a 1.5 mile walk I'd class that as lucky, I struggle to find ways of getting to my appointments as they persist in giving me 9-9:30am appointments when the first bus I can get doesn't get there until 10:30, if I bus it I have to go in the opposite direction of the hospital by bus first to get a bus to get there but I would never dream of not going, if I were you I'd quite happily walk that 1.5 miles and further
 
My gps is 1 and a 1/2 miles away. My hospital is 16 miles away.
The cancer hospital was 100 mile trip. Everyday for six weeks
For the sake of my eyes it’s a no brainier.
 
PCM said:
I live in Staffordshire and the NHS is from this year taking the screening "in-house". Instead of an easy bus ride to my local optician I face a one and a half mile walk or two buses plus a walk. I am very tempted not to bother. Are other people facing similar issues?
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I have a 14 mile round trip if I so wish to go for eye screening, which means £30 return taxi fare. I choose not to go but that's my choice.
 
15 miles there, 15 miles back to the hospital for eye screening - first one is the end of the month. Same for clinic, every other Monday, and for the podiatrist. I’ve lost enough of my sight, no way would I risk losing more.
 
Docb said:
Ours used to be done by the optician but the local trust decided to do it themselves and I go to the community hospital for the screening. This is no problem in principal altough it's inconvenient because it is yet another thing to do. Optician thinks they might be giving it back.

When the bloke at the screening asked me if I had any eye problems I mentioned I had an acquired nystagmus. He said... Whats that? Obviouly he had been given very limited training.
Click to expand...

To be fair, all he really needs to do is work a camera.
I have been lucky, all of my screening so far has been assessed on the day, but I am always told it's just an opinion, it's down to the actual qualified assessors to give the all clear.
And it's a specific screening for retinopathy, I still need to see an optician for eye tests, and they also seen to need a specific optician to deal with diabetic patients, and again have a good look around after the actual eye test.
 
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