Hospitals & services

Diabetic eye screening

What is diabetic eye screening?

Diabetic eye screening is a free test to check for diabetic retinopathy, an eye complication caused by high blood sugar levels, which can lead to irreversible sight loss if not found and treated early. In the initial stages you cannot tell if your eyes are affected, therefore, it is important to attend screening even if your vision feels fine. Having yearly diabetic eye screening helps to find diabetic retinopathy early allowing prompt treatment if needed.

If you have diabetes (or had diabetes in the past and are now in diabetes remission), and you are aged twelve or over, you will get a letter inviting you to have your eyes screened at least once a year. If you are pregnant or have been pregnant recently, you may be invited more often for screening.

What is diabetic retinopathy?

Diabetic retinopathy is the name given to changes in the blood vessels supplying the retina (the light sensitive layer at the back of the eye). These small blood vessels can become blocked, leaky or grow abnormally if blood sugars are too high. If this happens and is not found in its early stages, it can cause problems with your vision, particularly if your diabetes is poorly controlled. Untreated diabetic retinopathy is one of the most common causes of sight loss. You are at risk of developing diabetic retinopathy regardless of whether your diabetes is controlled by diet, tablets, or insulin.

How can diabetic retinopathy and diabetic maculopathy affect my sight?

Changes to the retina (the photosensitive layer at the back of your eye) and the macula (the area of your eye responsible for central vision) can have an impact on your sight if your diabetes is not well controlled or if you do not attend screening for us to detect the changes early enough.

Problems with your vision because of diabetic retinopathy include

  • Blurred or hazy vision.
  • Problems focusing.
  • Sensitivity to glare.
  • Problems with seeing in low light.
  • Difficulty seeing fine details.
  • Fluctuations with your vision for hour to hour
  • Who is most at risk?
  • You are at greater risk of diabetic retinopathy if you:
  • Have had diabetes for a long time.
  • Have poorly controlled diabetes.
  • Have high blood pressure.
  • Are pregnant.
  • Are of Asian or Afro-Caribbean ethnic background

Looking after your diabetes can reduce the risk of your retinopathy progressing and can slow the rate at which any changes happen.

Attending your regular diabetic eye screening appointments is important because diabetic retinopathy does not cause any symptoms until it has reached an advanced stage. Treatment, when given at the right time, is effective at reducing or preventing damage to your sight.

Contact us

Sheffield Diabetic Eye Screening Booking Centre

0114 226 5475

Phone lines are open Monday to Friday 08:40 until 16:20

Sheffield Diabetic Eye Screening Service

275 Glossop Road
Sheffield
S10 2HB

Complaints, concerns and compliments

If you would like to give us feedback or if you have a
complaint, please telephone us on 0114 2265475. We
aim to respond to complaints as quickly as possible.

 

Please click on the links below to view the information you require

How do I book a diabetic eye screening appointment?

You will receive an invitation to attend for a diabetic eye screening test, on the reverse of the letter will be a list of locations from which you can choose. Please do not attend without first telephoning the booking line and booking an appointment.

Book an appointment by telephone

0114 2265475

Phone lines are open Monday to Friday from 08:40 until 16:20.

Confirmation of booking

Once your appointment has been booked, you will receive written confirmation in the post.

  • Birley Health Centre - 120 Birley Lane, S12 3BP
  • Burngreave Surgery (Cornerstone Building) - 5 Burngreave Road, S3 9DA
  • Crystal Peaks Medical Centre – 15 Peaks Mount, S20 7HZ
  • Deepcar Medical Centre – 271 Manchester Road, S36 2RA
  • Eastbank Medical Centre – 555 Eastbank Road, S2 2AG
  • Jordanthorpe Health Centre - 1 Dyche Close, S8 8DJ
  • Northern General Hospital – Diabetes and Endocrine Centre, Barnsley Road Drive, S5 7AU
  • Northern General Hospital— Northern General Eye Centre, Herries Road, S5 7AU
  • Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Eye Clinic, A Floor – S10 2JF
  • Sheffield NHS Walk In Centre – Rockingham House, 75 Broad Lane, S1 3PB — *Evenings and Saturday appointments available*
  • Wincobank Medical Centre – 205 Tyler Street, S9 1DJ

Our aim is to provide accessible screening for all our patients. Please contact the appointment booking team on 0114 226 5475 for further information about our screening locations as other venues often become available throughout the year.

Patients needing ambulance transport

We only offer patient transport to The Royal Hallamshire Hospital or Northern General Hospital (please contact us to check if you are eligible for patient transport). You will be asked to book your own transport with Yorkshire Ambulance Service if you are eligible.

To check on buses and times you can ring the Traveline on 01709 515151 or alternatively you can visit the South Yorkshire Travel Website: www.travelsouthyorkshire.com

What should I bring to my appointment?

Any glasses that you currently wear.

Details of any diabetes medication you are currently taking.

It is also helpful to bring sunglasses to the appointment as the eye drops can make you

more sensitive to bright light.

Please do not wear contact lenses as we will ask you to remove them for the eye drops.

During the appointment

First, you will perform a vision test. If you wear distance glasses these should be worn for this part of the test.
 
Drops that dilate your pupils will then be placed in your eyes. They take 15—20 minutes to make your pupil bigger, allowing a clear image of the retina.

DO NOT DRIVE for 4 to 6 hours after having the eye drops as your vision will be affected.

After the drops have dilated your pupils, photographs are taken of the back of the eye. You will see a flash, but the camera does not touch your eye.
 
The appointment takes around 45 minutes to complete.
 
You should still visit an optician every one to two years as they will check the overall eye health, prescribe glasses if they needed and detect other conditions such as glaucoma.

You should normally receive your results from your screening appointment within 3 weeks. Results are sent by post to both the patient and the patient’s GP. Please contact us on 0114 2265475 if you think you have not received your results, or if you have any queries about your results.
 
The images below are examples of the various stages of diabetic retinopathy.

No diabetic retinopathy

Your retina appears to have no diabetic changes and there is very low risk of sight threatening complications. We will invite you for screening again when you are next due.

 

 

 

 

Background diabetic retinopathy

Your retina shows minor changes because of diabetes. Please speak to your GP or practice nurse about your diabetes care, we recommend that you do not make any changes to lifestyle or medications until you have spoken to a healthcare professional. Your eyes do not require any treatment. With good diabetes management, these changes can heal on their own. Background retinopathy does not affect your sight but means there is a greater risk that you will develop more serious changes that may damage your sight We will invite you for screening again when you are next due.

 

 

Pre-proliferative diabetic retinopathy

Your retina shows advanced changes in the retina due of diabetes than background diabetic retinopathy; these advanced changes put your eyes at risk of having vision problems, because of this, you may be asked to be monitored more closely. It is especially important that you manage your diabetes well to prevent the changes developing further. Please speak to your GP or practice nurse about your diabetes care, we recommend that you do not make any changes to lifestyle or medications until you have spoken to a healthcare professional. We will ask you to come to the Eye Clinic at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital for further assessment with an ophthalmic consultant or a member of their team.

 

Proliferative diabetic retinopathy

Your retina shows severe changes because of diabetes that can cover large areas of your retina, and you are at high risk of vision loss. Please speak to your GP or practice nurse about your diabetes care, we recommend that you do not make any changes to lifestyle or medications until you have spoken to a healthcare professional. We will ask you to come to the Eye Clinic at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital for a prompt appointment with an ophthalmic consultant, or a member of their team, and you may need treatment.

 

 

Diabetic Maculopathy

The macula is the central part of your retina that allows you to see clearly, like this webpage. Maculopathy is diabetic retinopathy around your macula, the area responsible for your central vision, increasing your risk of sight loss. Please speak to your GP or practice nurse about your diabetes care, we recommend that you do not make any changes to lifestyle or medications until you have spoken to a healthcare professional. If we have found maculopathy, your sight may be affected, and we will ask you to come to the Royal Hallamshire Hospital to have an assessment with an ophthalmic consultant or a member of their team.to be monitored more closely.

 

 

Ungradable results

Sometimes it may not be possible for us to get clear photographs of the eyes. If this happens, you will be invited to attend for an examination using a slit lamp. A Slit Lamp is a machine that allows examination of the retina if there are other eye conditions like cataracts that prevent a good photograph to be taken.

 

During your diabetic eye screening test, you will have eye drops placed into your eyes to dilate your pupils.

On rare occasions, the dilating eye drops can cause pain or discomfort in the eye that may need medical attention.

If you are in pain because of dilating drops from diabetic eye screening, please go to the Emergency Eye Centre at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital between 08:30—16:00 or contact them on 0114 271 2495.

If you want advice outside of these hours, please contact the Royal Hallamshire Switchboard on 0114 271 7900 and ask to speak to the Ophthalmology (Eye) ward which is on I floor. The direct dial for the ward is 0114 271 2504.

Downloadable leaflets

Please click on the links below for more information about diabetes, diabetic retinopathy and your diabetic eye screening appointment

Why should I have my eyes screened for diabetic retinopathy?

Diabetic eye screening for diabetic retinopathy is a free service offered to everyone aged twelve years and over with diabetes of any type. The test is also recommended to those in diabetes remission. The test is an effective way of detecting changes at the back of the eye (the retina) which can affect your vision caused by high blood sugar levels. All people with diabetes or who have had diabetes are at some risk of developing diabetic retinopathy, which can lead to vision loss.

Diabetic retinopathy does not normally affect your sight until it is at an advanced stage which is why screening to allow for early detection of diabetic retinopathy is important to detect changes which may not yet have any symptoms.

My GP/practice nurse has told me I do not have diabetes anymore. Do I still need to attend for diabetic eye screening?

Yes. Even if you no longer have diabetes, you are still potentially at risk of developing changes to the eyes related to diabetes, so it is important you still attend for screening when you are invited.

Should I still see my optician?

Yes. Diabetic Eye Screening is not the same as a routine optician’s eye test. You should see an optician at least every 2 years to check for other eye conditions such as glaucoma.

I am pregnant. Do I need to have my eyes screened more regularly?

Yes. During pregnancy, diabetes can cause changes to occur much more quickly than they might normally. Therefore, we would like to see you every three months during pregnancy. Please make sure each time you attend that the person screening your eyes knows that you are pregnant.

What happens after my appointment?

The photos that were taken during your appointment will be checked by a specialist who is trained to detect diabetic retinopathy. You should receive your results by post within 3 weeks. Your GP will also receive the results. If we find anything that requires further investigation, we will refer you the Hospital Eye Services. Please contact us if you do not receive your results letter after four weeks.

I will not be able to attend for a few months due to holidays/sickness/working away. What are my options?
Please contact us on 0114 2265475 if you know you are not going to be available to attend your diabetic eye screening appointment and to discuss possible options.

You may be asked to attend an appointment with a slit lamp examiner if we were unable to get clear photographs of your retina due to other eye conditions like cataracts Slit lamp examiner appointments for diabetic eye screening are available at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital Eye Clinic or the Northern General Eye Centre at the Northern General Hospital.

What is a slit lamp?

A slit lamp has two parts—a very bright source of light shone through a slit, and a microscope. The microscope allows us to look at the individual parts of the eye in detail, in particular the retina at the back of the eye. This will show whether there are any changes that may have been caused by diabetic retinopathy that we were unable to see on the photographs.

What happens at a slit lamp appointment?

  1. We put drops in your eyes to temporarily make your pupils larger. The drops cause blurred vision and because of this, we recommend that you do not drive for 4-6 hours until your vision has returned to normal.
  2. After the drops have taken affect, we ask you to sit in the examination chair and rest your chin and forehead on a support to steady your head for a few minutes whilst we examine your eyes. The appointment takes about 30 – 45 minutes to complete.
  3. We send a letter to you and your GP within three weeks to let you know your screening results.
  4. If you have no diabetic retinopathy or background diabetic retinopathy and we are still unlikely to be able to get clear photographs of your eyes, we will invite you for another slit lamp appointment for your next appointment.
  5. If there are signs of serious diabetic retinopathy, we will refer you to a specialist eye doctor in the Eye Clinic at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital for a further assessment.

Diabetic eye screening: slit lamp examination explained - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

This service is available at the following Hospitals:

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