News

3 May 2012
Latest edition of UK NSC Screening Matters newsletter published

The latest edition of the UK National Screening Committee's Screening Matters newsletter is now available from the UK NSC Screening Portal.

The newsletter includes updates from all the national non-cancer screening programmes, including the NHS Diabetic Eye Screening Programme, as well as policy, training and education, quality assurance and IT news.

The welcome section includes a link to a short survey asking for feedback on the Screening Matters newsletter.

4 April 2012
Entries invited for 2012 Quality in Care Diabetes awards

Entries are being invited for the 2012 Quality in Care (QiC) Diabetes Programme awards.

Now in its second year, the QiC Programme recognises and rewards initiatives that promote good practice in diabetes care.

QiC Diabetes is open to anyone working in the diabetes community, in a UK health service, for a patient group, in the voluntary sector, industry, in a consultancy or people with diabetes.

There are 15 categories:

1. Best early detection and prevention initiative
2. Best network care initiative
3. Best in-patient care initiative
4. Best admissions avoidance and/or safe discharge initiative
5. Best innovative commissioning initiative
6. Best improvement programme for the frail and elderly
7. Best improvement programme for pregnancy and maternity
8. Best improvement programme for children and young people
9. Best initiative addressing unacceptable variation
10. Best primary and/or community initiative of the year
11. Best cross-organisational partnership of the year
12. Best initiative supporting self-care
13. Best medicine management initiative
14. Outstanding Educator in Diabetes
15. People’s Award

Entry forms can be downloaded from the QiC Programme website.

3 April 2012
BARS holds second training day for graders

15 March 2012
Screening has high profile at Diabetes UK Conference

The NHS Diabetic Eye Screening Programme was well represented at the 2012 Diabetes UK Professional Conference in Glasgow from 7-9 March.

National Programme Director Professor Peter Scanlon, National QA Director Dr Sue Cohen and Programme Manager Anne Stevenson were among eight members of the national programme team who attended the conference at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre.

The screening programme had a stand at the conference exhibition and Prof Scanlon was one of the key speakers during a 'Retinopathy and diabetes' symposium chaired by Prof Paul Dodson.

The conference was attended by around 3,000 delegates.

Diabetes UK President Richard Lane OBE, left, pictured at the NHS Diabetic Eye Screening Programme stand with QA Team Leader David Taylor, Programme Manager Anne Stevenson and IT Development Manager Adam Gregory

13 March 2012
Entries invited for Quality in Care Diabetes Awards

The second Quality in Care (QiC) Diabetes programme was launched at the Diabetes UK Professional Conference 2012 in Glasgow.

Entries for the 15 award categories are now invited from the NHS, industry and patient organisations, with joint working and collaboration key to the QiC Programmes. The entry deadline is Friday May 25, 2012, with the awards ceremony being held on Thursday October 18, 2012.

The awards recognise outstanding and innovative initiatives that deliver high and improved standards of care for people with diabetes in the UK.

Among last year's winners was the failsafe project delivered by the local diabetic eye screening programme based at the Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

To submit an entry for one of the award categories or for more information, visit the Quality in Care website.

7 March 2012
Number of people screened rises to nearly 1.9 million

The Department of Health's latest quarterly performance data show that more people than ever are being screened for diabetic retinopathy in England while the number of people with diabetes has risen to well over 2.5 million.

The latest Integrated Performance Measures Return (IPMR) data cover the period from 1 January to 31 December 2011. They reveal that the number of people identified with diabetes by GP practices in England had risen to 2,538,034 - an increase of more than 4% from 2,431,982 the year before. Of those, a total of 2,329,907 people with diabetes were offered screening, 237,209 were excluded from screening and 1,866,538 were screened - up by more than 130,000 compared to 12 months previously.

This gives an estimate for the coverage of diabetic eye screening - the proportion of people with diabetes who receive a screening test - of 73.5% and an uptake figure - the proportion of people offered screening who are tested - of 80.1%.

Sue Cohen, National QA Director for the NHS Diabetic Eye Screening Programme, said: "The number of people with diabetes continues to grow but these figures show that local diabetic eye screening programmes are rising to the challenge of offering and delivering screening to an increasing number of people.

"Concern remains in some areas over the number of people excluded from screening but the new common screening pathway, which will be introduced over the next 12 months, will help local programmes to address this issue while driving up the quality of the service they provide."  

10 February 2012
BARS holds training day for City & Guilds candidates

The British Association of Retinal Screening (BARS) is holding a Units 7 and 8 training day for City & Guilds candidates on Thursday 22 March in Aylesbury at Stoke Mandeville Hospital (10.30am to 4pm).

The course is free for BARS members although they are asked for a £7 contribution towards refreshments. The course costs £37 for non BARS members, which includes a year's free membership of BARS.

A course application form can be downloaded from the BARS website.

Please note that as the NHS Diabetic Eye Screening Programme and DRS Qualifications team are not responsible for the training day, we cannot officially endorse either the content or learning outcomes.

23 January 2012
New eye-dentity for national screening programme

New national programme name

The English National Screening Programme for Diabetic Retinopathy today (23 January) changed its name to become the NHS Diabetic Eye Screening Programme.

We believe the new national programme name will help to raise awareness of the importance of eye screening because it will be more accessible and meaningful for people with diabetes and the wider public. It is also an easy name for local programmes to adopt to promote a renewed sense of shared identity as part of a single, unified national screening programme. In addition, it is consistent with the naming convention for all other NHS screening programmes in England.

New national programme website

The new national programme website also launched today. Anyone trying to visit the old site at www.retinalscreening.nhs.uk will now automatically be redirected to this new site.

We hope you will agree that the new site is a more user-friendly resource for health professionals and patients alike.

The new website includes Extranet pages for people working with the NHS Diabetic Eye Screening Programme nationally and locally. A password is required to access this area. Anyone working within diabetic eye screening who has not yet received a password should email their job title and contact details, including email address, to dr.screening@nhs.net.

23 January 2012
January 2012 edition of newsletter published

The latest edition of the national programme newsletter, DES News, can now be downloaded from the newsletter page. It includes:

• Information about the implementation of a new common screening pathway
• Introduction of new national Grading College
• Update on submissions of annual reports by local programmes
• Successful local initiatives that have helped to improve uptake