National Diabetes Retinal Screening Grading System and Referral Guidelines 2006.

From the Ministry of Health website:

Summary

The National Diabetes Retinal Screening Grading System and Referral Guidelines have been developed after an extensive review of the current diabetic retinopathy literature and the grading systems that are in use in New Zealand and overseas.

There is substantial evidence of the benefits of eye screening as part of retinopathy prevention. Screening has been shown to prevent avoidable loss of vision as well as being cost-effective.

The National Diabetes Retinopathy Steering Group and the Ministry of Health recommend screening, using retinal photography, routinely every two years for people with diabetes who do not have retinopathy. Shorter intervals of screening should be based on the Guidelines, subject to the clinician’s judgement in each individual case reflecting:

• the severity of retinopathy

• glycaemic control

• blood pressure control

• the risk of progression.

People with diabetes who are unsuitable for examination by retinal photography should have clinical assessment in lieu of screening.

This is a ‘living document’. The Guidelines are a flexible tool that will be adjusted by the National Diabetes Retinopathy Steering Group (NDRSG) as data from the quality programme becomes available, practical experience suggests a problem, or new evidence is published. It is expected that the Guidelines will be formally reviewed at least every three years; however, amendments and additions may be made at any time during that period by the NDRSG.

This publication is available in PDF format below - click to open or right click and save.

National Diabetes Retinal Screening Grading System and Referral Guidelines 2006 (PDF 300KB)

There are also resources available on this website - photos of diabetic retinopathy and the screening CD

National Diabetes Resources

Please download and read the guidlines - you are expected to be familiar with the contents.

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