Half a million diabetics are missing screening

Up to half a million people with diabetes in England are still not being screened for retinopathy annually, charity group Diabetes UK has claimed.

The charity said this week, based on the latest figures from the Department of Health (DoH) on retinal screening, that around a quarter (26 per cent) of people with diabetes aged 12 and over were not screened for retinopathy in 2008.

The new DoH figures come when the number of people being diagnosed with diabetes doubled in the UK in the 12 months leading up to October 2008 (News, 24.10.08). At the time, an internal DoH report said that diabetes was 'one of the biggest health challenges facing the UK today'.