Thanks to investment in state of the art digital retinal imaging, retinopathy can be objectively documented and response to treatment monitored at the click of a button. Documentation of retinopathy  fully complies with best practice guidance (BMJ 2004;328:625-629, Fig. 3).

Patients gain better understanding of their eye problem by visualising on retinal images what is wrong with their retina. In chronic disease like diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration retinal lesions change over time. Retinal images assist your eye doctor in managing your eye disease whilst involving you in better understanding. With this approach patients can be involved into the management of their eye disease and as a result outcomes are likely to be better.

On-site digital fundus fluorescein angiography with 3D viewing (stereoscopy), fully compliant with the specifications of the DoH and the Royal College of Ophthalmologists for assessing age-related macular degeneration (AMD), has allowed me to launch a new service at the WNH: Photodynamic Therapy for wet AMD. Patients do not need to travel miles for this treatment anymore.

Only very few other private hospitals outside the West Midlands have on-site stereoscopic digital fluorescein angiography available. Retinal specialists without this facility view their angiograms on paper printed photographs with no stereoscopic (3D) view, i.e. they resort to a shortcut deranging the guidance for fluorescein angiography and PDT.