View from the High Street: Key role in diabetes screening

Ever since we opened our practice in 2003, we have offered diabetic screening to our patients. The quality and level of screening offered has improved over time. Initially we performed a dilated volk examination, reporting on a carbon paper form. With the advancement of retinal photography, this evolved into dilated fundus photography.

The images were downloaded onto an encrypted memory stick and couriered off to be graded and returned the following week with any messages. With the emergence of the City and Guilds diabetic screening and grading course, I became a qualified grader, so that I could grade the images. And as technology advanced, we could end the hassle of memory sticks and send everything electronically.