PEOPLE living with diabetes in York and North Yorkshire are to be given increased access to check-ups which could save their sight thanks to a new mobile screening programme.

Anybody over 12 who has the condition will now be able to take advantage of a service which can allow early detection of diabetic retinopathy, the biggest cause of adult blindness in the UK.

York Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has been awarded the contract by North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust (PCT) to provide the retinal screening programme, which will cover around 27,000 people throughout the region. A York-based administration centre, using state-of-the-art technology, will call patients in for checks, while a fleet of six vans with portable screening equipment are to travel across North Yorkshire to bring the service closer to people’s homes.

They will be staffed by teams from York, Scarborough and Harrogate who will take the screening kit into GP practices, hospitals and health centres.

“For several years, we have delivered a mobile screening service around the York area,” said Dr Jonathan Thow, a consultant physician and the clinical lead for retinal screening for the trust.

“Uptake has always been very good in York, and by extending this screening area with venues closer to patients’ homes, access will be greatly improved.”

Research has proved detecting diabetic retinopathy at an early stage can prevent sight loss, with the screening programme involving taking a digital image of the retina at the back of a diabetes sufferer’s eye.

Specialist image-graders, optometrists and ophthalmologists then study and assess the image, after which each patient is either offered a further appointment or referred for further hospital checks. If retinopathy is detected early, the patient is referred to a local centre for laser treatment to stop the retina detaching and causing blindness, which is followed by annual checks through the screening programme.

“We are pleased people with diabetes have this new service, which is an important part of how we screen for eye disease,” said Jane Marshall, the PCT’s director of commissioning and service development.

“If people with diabetes have their retina checked, we can detect any disease much earlier and get them the treatment we need. York Hospital is doing a wonderful job in getting this service up and running and we strongly encourage people who are invited for screening to attend.”

The first mobile screening vans are now on the road in York, and will be rolled out in Scarborough and Harrogate by the end of the year.