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Community eyecare on the high street

For primary care trusts (PCTs) seeking to resolve the conundrum of how to meet the 2007 targets for diabetic retinopathy screening, Simon Williams, Director of Clinical Services, Specsavers, discusses how a practical, innovative and simple solution is now available through 1st Retinal Screen and high street operators Specsavers Opticians.

For some PCTs, the impact of recent organisational change and limited resources mean that their diabetic retinal screening programmes are struggling and some have yet to get off the ground. They face increasing difficulty in meeting the national service framework targets and are now turning to the private sector for the answer to this issue.

Our solution provides PCTs with the facility to screen patients at Specsavers Opticians located within their PCT. By offering additional screening centres, PCTs are able to increase screening capacity without incurring additional equipment or staffing costs.

The arrangement is easy to set up and offers rapid deployment to help meet targets whilst being both flexible and convenient for patients.

In Swindon, over 9,000 patients from 39 GP practices across Swindon PCT and parts of Wiltshire PCT areas are participating in such a screening service, under which Specsavers Opticians in Swindon is one of four screening centres offered by Swindon PCT from which their patients can choose for their screening.

The retinal screening is carried out under supervison of professional qualified optometrists using fundus cameras located in the opticians’ high street premises; the images are then sent for grading to 1st Retinal Screen who liaise directly with the PCT to arrange the patients’ appointments and provide clinical feedback to the patients and their GPs. Because discrete computer systems are used, patient confidentiality is not breached, nor is the DRS programme integrated with the optician’s usual business.

Swindon Specsavers is open seven days a week – and the option of a Sunday appointment is proving attractive to DRS patients. Being in the town centre, the optician’s practice is easily accessible by public transport and the number of patients choosing to attend the high street opticians for DRS is growing rapidly. The practice has two fundus cameras (which are also used for ordinary eyecare customers) and, with optometrist expertise to hand, the store has the capacity to screen up to 80 patients a week.

Optician David Grieves, director of Specsavers in Swindon is pleased to be a part of the service.

“We are delighted to be able to offer this additional service as part of our involvement in community eyecare in the Swindon area. My optometrists are keen to become more involved in this and other shared care programmes and patients value being able to have their diabetic retinal screening appointment with minimal inconvenience, as part of their usual visit to the town centre," he says. 

By bringing community eye care into the high street, PCTs have a viable, affordable solution to assist them in meeting their 2007 targets for Diabetic Retinopathy Screening.