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NEC’s Joanne Harmon presenting co-authored paper on eye health for patients who fail to attend hospital eye appointments

Our Team Leader, Joanne Harmon from NEC Care in Cork is presenting at the EASDec Conference (European Association for the Study of Diabetes Eye Complications) this weekend.

The Conference is an annual meeting which takes place at different locations across Europe with the participation of 150-200 active scientists from different fields of study of diabetic retinopathy.

Joanne has co-authored a paper with Dr Louise O’Toole on the Impact on Eye Health for Patients who Fail to Attend Hospital Ophthalmology appointments. Their paper was selected by EASDec to be presented at their conference in Odense, Denmark on 28th-30th October.

The study they completed represents the research and innovation that we strive for here in NEC Care and with the help of the National Screening Service we have been recognised on a European level. 

With patient care at the forefront of NEC’s agenda we endeavour to put patients first and improve every step of the way. With this in mind this study was undertaken to look at the effects on eye health for patients who do not attend their hospital appointments,” said Joanne. 

Joanne added “we found that the delay between the patients screening encounters when they do not attend, results in clinically significant damage to their eyes. We hope that by increasing patient engagement in the hospital and reducing the time between hospital discharge and the patient’s next subsequent screening appointment we can positively impact this.”

EASDec is a study group of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) with special responsibility for the study of the eye complications of diabetes.

Its aim is to promote the advancement of knowledge of all aspects of diabetic retinopathy, including epidemiology, pathology, pathophysiology, investigation and treatment through active collaboration between ophthalmologists and diabetologists.

The ultimate goal of the Group is to prevent the development of diabetic retinopathy and to search for the best treatment of this condition in diabetic patients.

Joanne is Team Leader at NEC Care Ireland’s Diabetic Eye Screening programme