High street care favoured by patients

Patient feedback collected by Devon LOC has found 87 per cent of diabetes patients prefer retinal screening to be conducted at a high street practice.

It follows a request from Plymouth DRS Program Board, part of NHS England, for the LOC to undertake a survey over a two week period to seek feedback from 276 patients.

Eight participating practices took part and surveys were completed after screening. Ninety eight per cent of patients were happy with the level of care they received at community-based optical practices in the area.

Charles Bill, chair of Devon LOC, said: ‘We have always known that community optometry is at the forefront of delivering high quality, patient centred and cost effective healthcare in local settings and this survey confirms that this is what the patients want as well.’