League of Friends donate £32,000 to buy state-of-the-art eye screening cameras
The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust has been presented with new screening equipment designed to prevent sight-threatening eye disease in patients with diabetes.
A £32,000 donation from the League of Friends of the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital has been used to purchase three new state-of-the-art retinal cameras.
David Parkinson, Optometrist, said: “The technology is able to detect eye disease well before it needs treatment, meaning the eye can be cared for through diabetes management as opposed to having to treat the eye itself.
“Diabetes is the leading cause of retinopathy - bleeding blood vessels in the retina, at the back of the eye - in the UK. Eye screening, using digital photography and bespoke imaging software, can detect the very earliest signs of potentially sight threatening Diabetic Retinopathy.”
One of the new cameras will be situated at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital while the other two will be used throughout the community. Each camera is expected to photograph in excess of 5,000 people a year.
Ray Smith, Executive Chairman of The League of Friends of Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, said: “All our fundraisers, helpers and supporters are delighted that we have been able to purchase these potentially life-changing cameras, which will be used for the early detection of sight threatening diabetic eye disease.
“One of the cameras replaces an obsolete model at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital whilst two more shall be based out in the community using special transporter vehicles. Images from all three cameras are processed at the Hummingbird Centre at RSH.”
