Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Action group take campaign further

The Diabetic Retinopathy Screening (DRS) Action group are continuing with their campaign to have the service reinstated in Heywood and have now written to Richard Barker, the Regional Director of NHS England for answers.

The service was withdrawn from the Phoenix Centre in October 2014, having previously been held there on a regular basis for diabetic patients who need to have regular retinopathy screenings.

The letter asks Mr Barker to address the “travesty of injustice of the decision made by NHS England and Pennine Acute Trust to withdraw the service”.

The group also ask Mr Barker to address a number of questions surrounding the decision to withdraw the service, which was made without a public consultation.

In the letter, it says: “Patients were not informed of the decision to withdraw the service and the first they knew about it was when they received their appointment for new venues. There was no prior consultation with patients and we have it on good authority that neither local doctors nor the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) were informed/consulted before the service was withdrawn. We understand this to be a legal requirement before anything other than minor changes are made to any service.”

The group are now frustrated that even though the service was withdrawn without a public consultation, they and others who want the service brought back to Heywood, have to undertake a consultation.

The letter continues: “Although the DRS service was withdrawn from the Phoenix Centre without consultation, we are being told we must adhere to this very same procedure/engagement process/public consultation, even though at the end of this, we would not have a guarantee that the DRS service would be delivered to us at the Phoenix Centre, where in many people’s opinion, it should have remained. Since there was no consultation process prior to the withdrawal of the service from the Phoenix Centre, why can’t the service be reinstated without a consultation process?”

It is understood that the service was withdrawn from the Phoenix Centre due to the lack of a secure N3 internet connection and due to this, the images taken during the screening had to be transferred from the centre by staff using a pen drive.

The group were also told that the service was withdrawn “due to a serious incident in February 2014”. The group have since been told that this incident did not happen at the Phoenix Centre.

A third reason for the withdrawal of the service has also been made due to the lack of available rooms in the Phoenix Centre. It is understood that previously, the screening programme would book the room needed for the screening in blocks of five per week for ten weeks at a time, but after the last session to be held at the centre took place, the room was not pre-booked. It is understood that this took place before the service was officially withdrawn.

A fourth reason for the loss of the service has been down to the equipment being damaged from moving it from site to site. The group have been told that the equipment was transported “in the back of local taxis or staff cars”.

Diabetic Retinopathy is a common complication of diabetes. It occurs when high blood sugar levels damage the cells at the back at the eye. If it isn’t treated then it can cause blindness. This is why it is vital that people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes have regular retinopathy screenings.

The group are now hoping that their letter will encourage the right decision makers to reinstate the service in Heywood.

The letter ends: “We would ask that the new screening camera is permanently sited in Heywood, without further delay, where we feel it would be a central and geographical location for patients from Heywood and Middleton. Also patients on the Heywood side of Castleton and Bury could access the service easily, being on several bus routes from these areas, and easily accessible due to the vicinity of the Phoenix Centre to the bus stops on level ground.”

The group have not yet had a reply to their letter.