Retinal Screening

The diabetes retinal screening program

The Mangere Community Health Trust is a not for profit Trust which was established to provide services to a community which has a desperate need for additional community based services, due to the nature of the population base. The Counties Manukau region has a very high number of non-English speaking residents of a lower socioeconomic group, whose access to telephone and transport is limited. The “normal” public health routes generally do not work well and as a result we find that many people have health problems which may be being left unmanaged.

Diabetic eye disease is the leading cause of blindness in our under 65 year olds and is a huge problem in Counties Manukau. Diabetic eye disease is called retinopathy and results from damage to the blood vessels in the back of the eye. The retinal screening service uses a digital camera to photograph the back of the eye (the retina) to diagnose this disease. Like most health problems if we are able to identify the existence of retinopathy at an early stage then we are able to treat the retinopathy in a timely manner and prevent blindness which is caused by diabetes

Initially this program ran independently from the CMDHB as there were many groups/areas which were not assessing the service provided at the Manukau SuperClinic (Manurewa). We worked with GP practices in these areas to bring the screening clinic into an environment where patients were already attending (bring the service to the patient). This started in Dec 2002 and ran independently until October of 2005 when the CMDHB contracted and incorporated this existing service into the new look CMDHB retinal screening package for Counties Manukau.

This service is free to patients and available from many GPs’ rooms and from established clinics in Mangere, Otara and Papakura where routine diabetic care is given. The Trust’s mobile screening service is currently operating at 21 sites throughout Counties Manukau. The Trust has raised funds to purchase 2 digital retinal cameras as well as vans for transporting the equipment. We currently operate 8-12 clinics a week around South Auckland

Enrollment into this service must be initiated by GP, Nurse, or other health practitioner. We are unable to accept referrals directly from patients.

Contact Info
Diabetes Photoscreening Program:
Phone: 09 255 0602
Fax: 09 255 1673
E-mail: photoscreen@mangerehealth.org.nz