One of the county's busiest optician chains has introduced a potentially life-saving health assessment service into all of its stores nationwide.

Specsavers has installed state of the art digital retinal screening in all 39 of its stores here. Digital retinal screening is conducted with a fundus camera, a specialised microscope which takes a digital image of the eye's retina. This image can then be used to screen for a number of underlying conditions such as glaucoma and diabetes. It can also detect sight-threatening, and in some instances life-threatening conditions, such as brain tumours.

"The fundus camera can play a vital role in the early diagnosis and management of many conditions, which can lead to blindness if not detected at an early stage. The camera broadens the testing process to deliver a more in-depth health assessment for the customer. It also enables the patient to see the image, which helps them gain a greater understanding of the test," explained Specsavers' director of professional services, Paul Carroll.

The image is then retained as a record to help monitor any changes over a prolonged period.

"Our eyesight changes over time so it's vital that people come in for an eye examination at least once every two years. That's even more important for higher risk groups, like people over the age of 60, people with diabetes and people with a family history of glaucoma," Mr Carroll noted.

This new service is available at no additional cost as part of a standard eye examination for people over the age of 40, or in cases where a GP or optician has recommended it.

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