Diabetes eye checks 'now on time'

Miss Kinning said regular screenings were vital

A health trust has admitted delays in diabetes-related eye screening but said it has now caught up with the backlog.

It follows the case of Sarah Kinning, 20, from Lewes, East Sussex, who has Type I diabetes and went for three years without retinal checks.

On Wednesday, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust said Ms Kinning was now being seen annually and there were no longer any delays.

Diabetes UK said the government wants all diabetics screened yearly by 2008.

Ms Kinning told BBC South East Today she had been forced to organise an appointment herself.

The biggest cause of blindness in working-age people is retinopathy Cathy Moulton, Diabetes UK

She said doctors had found she had signs of possible eye damage.

"As a diabetic, taking care of one's self is so important - but that goes hand in hand with being monitored and screened," she added.

The health trust said the amount of people needing screenings had led to longer waiting times, but it caught up with numbers early this year.

A spokeswoman said new patients were being seen for diabetes-related retinal screenings within two weeks, and current patients were being seen yearly.

She said Miss Kinning was seen in March 2002 and should have been recalled in 2004, but was not screened again until July 2005.

Diabetes UK said 51% of people in the region were not getting their eyes screened regularly, or screened with a digital camera, and it was lobbying hard to ensure the government target was met.

"The biggest cause of blindness in working-age people is retinopathy," spokeswoman Cathy Moulton said.