NHS to Expand Digital Diabetic Retinopathy Screening

Plans to expand the use of advanced digital eye screening to community settings across England could improve care for patients with diabetes and help relieve pressure on hospital ophthalmology departments, according to health service leaders.

In an announcement on Monday, NHS England said a rollout of optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans to some larger GP practices, community hospitals, and mobile vans over the next 12 months could ease hospital backlogs by saving up to 120,000 hospital appointments each year.

Demand for all urgent and emergency care in the United Kingdom, including ophthalmic care, has increased over the last decade. Despite recent attempts to move towards more community-based ophthalmic care, most hospital eye units still see and treat many urgent cases.

The Royal College of Ophthalmologists recently estimated  that eye emergencies account for between 1.46% and 6% of A&E attendances. Meanwhile, new NHS England statistics show there were 8.9 million outpatient attendances for ophthalmology care in 2023-2024, accounting for 8.5% of all attendances .

Under the NHS Diabetic Eye Screening Programme, all patients aged 12 years and older are entitled to regular screenings to detect diabetic retinopathy, a leading cause of preventable sight loss. Of the 4 million people registered in the programme, 3.3 million currently undergo routine digital screening every 1 or 2 years.

Expanding OCT Technology

OCT uses light waves to take more than 1000 images of the eye, including the retina and optic nerve. The technique creates a detailed 3D image that gives more accurate results than the standard colour photography currently used for screening.

Currently, only one third of services in England offer OCT scans. However, the NHS said it expected that around 60,000 people who are already showing signs of eye disease will take part in OCT screening once the programme has been rolled out. 

NHS staff are currently being trained to use the technology, and all eye care services are expected to be using OCT by October 2025. This would result in more equitable access to digital eye screening across the country, according to NHS England.

Steve Russell, NHS national director for vaccinations and screening, said in a press release, “It’s fantastic news that these advanced eye scans will be available closer to home for thousands of people with diabetes across the country. 

“This technology will help us find and treat diabetic eye conditions early, helping minimise and prevent sight loss, and it also means that thousands of appointments in traditional hospital settings could be saved, which is great news for the NHS.”

Peter Russell has been a journalist for 40 years covering international news, health, medicine, and national politics on radio, TV, and online. He is based in the UK.