With diabetes being the one of the leading causes of blindness in the UK, locals are invited to attend a free health talk to learn about diabetic eye disease and what happens during an eye screening appointment.

 Birmingham Heartlands Hospital’s clinical lead for diabetic retinopathy screening, Dr Margaret Clarke and her team will be hosting the event on 30 April and offering information and advice about the eye disease and answering all of your questions.

Dr Clarke explains: “The diabetes eye screening programme has approximately 121,000 eligible patients on the database and we screen just over 90,000 (75 percent) across Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country.  By having regular screens, early diabetic eye changes can be detected, aiding swift diagnosis and timely treatment where appropriate. This is when treatment is most successful. Unfortunately one in four diabetes patients in the region do not have these vital screenings.  

“I would encourage anyone interested in finding out more about diabetic eye disease and the screening process to attend this seminar.”

A patient who has been through the screening programme at the Hospital will also answer questions from the audience giving their perspective of the screening journey.
The seminar is taking place on Tuesday 30 April at 5pm in the Education Centre at Heartlands Hospital. To book your place or to find out details of the Hospital’s future health seminars, contact Sandra White on 0121 424 1218 or email sandra.white@heartofengland.nhs.uk.