• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Retinopathy shocking...

donnellysdogs

Master
Messages
13,233
Location
Northampton
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Dislikes
People that can't listen to other people's opinions.
People that can't say sorry.
Hi everyone

I had my retinopathy appt today and I was shocked.

The person screening said that she had phoned 1 patient today as he had missed another screening.. He had missed 7 appointments and not been bothered to even cancel them.

They screen every weekend and last Saturday7 patients did not arrive for their appointments and did not cancel them.

They are purely for diabetic retinopathy screening.

Are diabetics really not realising they need these eye checks and they can lose their sight?

Are they too **** busy to txt that they can't attend or lift a phone to call?

I'm so mad that despite the nhs being in crisis with money that the patients just don't turn up or value their eyesight..

Moan over, but still angry.
Told again that no problems with eyes, **** good for T1 30 + years...
 
Understand your frustration, what does it take to pick up the phone and rearrange the appointment. Unfortunately some people do not realise how important it is to have their eyes checked to spot any early changes in the eyes, having had retinopathy myself it's something that I never take too lightly and always attend the appointments.
 
I dont think that retinopathy screening means much to a lot of people and they prefer to use ignorance is bliss until we all get older and a bit wiser.
 
My eyesight is my most valued asset, and it was what worried me most when i was first diagnosed. I had other eye problems some years back and was warned that if I didn't take care I might lose my sight in one eye, so have been super sensitive to this ever since. When I was having treatment for this at the (eye) hospital they were often holding a diabetic clinic at the same time and they had large groups of elderly people attending, so many do actually care enough to turn up, and some of them apparently had quite a journey by public transport to get there! My surgery has a scrolling "notice board" and they list how many missed appointments they have each month and it definitely is quite shocking though.

Robbity
 
I just get more and more shocked that the govt has to keep the nhs going for time wasters that don't give a ****.

They won't introduce the charging of missdd appts as the concept was that NHS was free at source, but we all pay for this in our taxes...

Still wound up!! Lol
 
When i got my last letter i called to change the appointment date and time due to work. When i turned up, having taken the afternoon off work and a taxi to the surgery, they didnt have me booked on the list! Luckily he fit me in before he then left for the day!

i would hate to lose my sight.
 
I went to the Diabetes UK, Living with Diabetes day.
I was shocked, I was the youngest there, by a fair number of years.
I was thinking, why on earth couldn't others be bothered finding out about their condition?
 
Actually, our practice loses the equvalent of a gp for 1/2 a week due to patients not attending appointments.. And yet patientsmoan they can't get appts..

Isn't this all a vicious circle?
 

Sounds very irresponsible indeed, I can't see any real excuse for not attending. all those clinic appointments I did miss my first ever Southampton eye appointment ( October) and did phone to cancel, but it was out of my control
Good news on the eyes DD

RRB
 
Todays screening was the worst for the eyedrops stinging ever in 30 years..They sting so much the lady told me to stick my head out the window to get cold air on them as this helps. She asked whether I had dry eyes or tired eyes (no)..

Isn't it amazing that with all the advances in medicine that they can't make these drops non stinging ones?

Gawd, I'm moaning tonight!!
 
I sympathize with you. Had those b@@dy drops five times this year. Cataract opp in January so more ars@@g about with drops. Hate them.
 
Nuthead said:
I sympathize with you. Had those b@@dy drops five times this year. Cataract opp in January so more ars@@g about with drops. Hate them.
Click to expand...

Apparently there are two lots of drops that can be used. The first are the stingy ones.. The 2nd type are also used on people with small pupils in addition to tbe first drops. The 2nd drops do not sting, but are made by the same manufacturer...

Has really bad stinging once previously after hospital further investigations. Was so bad afterwards I had to sit down outside as I was all over the place...today initially it was on a par with that experience.. But it wasn't the indepth investigation as they did before.. And never felt so bad in 20 years. Strange..

Hope your eyes are treated and recover well..
 
I suffer from uvietis which is inflammation of the iris and when I have a bad flare up I have to put these drops in 2-3 times a day to stop the iris sticking to the pupil - it did once and the opthamologist had to put 16 drops in before it 'unstuck' followed by a steroid injection in the eye - that was slightly painful!!
 
Unfortunately I think the only way is to introduce a charge for missed appointments, only those missed without very good reason of course, its the only way in my opinion. Dentists have done it for years even NHS ones, I bet they don't suffer the same problem. As for the retinopathy test I believe people should be informed as to the fact that advanced retinopathy will affect their entitlement to drive and an early diagnosis can reduce the chances of this happening.
 
I must be lucky, I've not needd the drops yet, which would be a problem as I tend to cycle to the appointments anyway.
 
Unless you are in a very 'bad' area then I suppose most must eventually have the screening done.
The stats for one the first quarter of last year are in this article from 'Balance' , 82.9% of those offered screening were screened but that means 17% weren't .
It's a great shame that people don't realise how lucky they are that UK has such a good totally free screening service . It has reduced the number of people becoming blind considerably (now no longer the leading cause of blindness in working age people). It's a service that was revolutionary and although it's been copied certainly doesn't exist in all countries with national health care systems.
I rarely get my screenings yearly here, it often ends up as longer in between. I have to book it at least 6 months in advance They won't book it immediately after the last one so the onus is totally on me to remember( and to have my chequebook ready to pay the doctor, I get it mostly back but I can have no illusions as to the very expensive cost of my health care; )
 
OTOH,
are they actually getting the appt on time?
I live in the end house of a small street and for a period, some letters were being delivered to the house at the far end of our street (which was empty!), so i was only getting the letters when the landlord was visiting.
 
Where I work, there was a man with Type 2. He didn't have good control of his diabetes and his career with us ended when he woke up one morning unable to see. He is now registered blind. It astounds me that with all the information out there, that there are people who ignore what could be controlled quite easily.

Hey hum. I do think that the apt given for retinopathy should only be an offer. Booked in only when the customer rings to agree. That may save some missed appointments. But even my Doctor's surgery has a notice of missed appointments. These average 250 - 300 per MONTH.

Honestly shocking. People need to be aware that their abuse of a wonderfully free NHS is costing it Billions.

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…