Making sense of the diabetic patient’s screening letter
| Retinopathy | English screening system | Scottish screening system | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| No retinopathy | R0 | R0 | Rescreen at 12 months |
| Background retinopathy | R1 | R1, R2 depending on severity of background changes | R1; rescreen at 12 months. R2 (Scotland only); rescreen at 6 months or refer to eye clinic if this is not feasible |
| Pre-proliferative retinopathy | R2 | R3 (termed‘severe background’) | Refer to eye clinic |
| Proliferative retinopathy | R3 (subdivided into RSa: active and R3s: inactive) | R4 (if active) | Refer urgently to eye clinic |
| No maculopathy | M0 | M0 | Rescreen 12 months |
| Maculopathy present | M1 | M1 or M2 depending on severity | M1; refer to eye clinic (English system). Rescreen at 6 months or refer to eye clinic if this is not feasible (Scottish system). M2; (Scotland only) refer to eye clinic |
| Photocoagulatio n(laser) scars | P0 (absent) P1 (present) | A comment may be added regarding absence of photocoagulation scars |