Diabetic eye screening clinic venues and schedule

Diabetic eye screening clinic venues and schedule

The service visits all localities throughout NHS Highland including Cowal and Bute. Clinics take place within the Diabetic Centre at UHI House in Inverness, and in the surrounding areas largely at the nearest available community hospital site where possible.

The reason for this is so that people living in the surrounding areas have the best opportunity for patient transport and travel links to the nearest community hospital in the same way you might attend any outpatient appointment. There are a few exceptions to this arrangement, however the choice of available screening venues has taken account of the best access hubs the screening team can make available throughout the area to accommodate our large patient base.

If your venue of choice is not available when you are due to be seen, please consider attending the nearest suitable venue for you. We would ask you not to wait until a certain place of preference is available as we may not be able to accommodate you, and this will result in a delay in your screening. We are entirely dependent on accommodation available to schedule clinics so we don't always have control over sites visited.

The locations may be subject to change at short notice. Please always check with us by phone as to the dates of the clinics you would like to secure an appointment in.

People in and around Inverness will routinely be offered an appointment at the screening centre in Inverness, where those living further afield may also attend should they prefer. You will be contacted by an initial pre-arranged appointment letter. If the date and/or time is unsuitable for you, please let us know.

Your appointment letter will detail the type of appointment you require (fundus photography, slit lamp examination or OCT Scan) and also will state your unique patient Community Health Index (CHI) number to quote to the call handler. This allows us to ensure accuracy when talking to you about your appointment arrangements.

If you do get in touch to book an appointment, please make sure you ask for a venue which is the most convenient for you to travel to (taking into account that patient transport is not available to community GP sites, only community hospitals). The mobile unit schedule is available up to 3 months in advance so there should be various choices and options available to you when you ring in.

Diabetic Centre location and parking

The Diabetic Centre is located on the ground floor of UHI House to the rear of the building, and has a separate car park accessed by driving towards the pedestrian crossing in front of the main building to the right of the main car park, adjacent to the Raigmore Hospital site. When you enter the car park at UHI House via the barrier, you will see a large sign directly in front of the barrier with arrows pointing to the Diabetic Centre.

The car park at UHI House is not owned by NHS Highland and is subject to parking charges, payable at the machines located outside the building by cash or debit card. The system operates on a vehicle registration identification system.

You can be dropped off at the Diabetic Centre - there is no charge if a vehicle leaves the UHI House car park before 30 minutes has elapsed.

The charges are:

• up to 30 minutes - FREE (for taxi, drop off, deliveries etc)
• up to 2 hours - £2
• up to 4 hours - £4
• (staged pricing between 4 and 24 hours)
• up to 24 hours, and each 24 hour period or part thereof - £9

There is no facility to override the parking barrier system, to let cars exit without paying.

Pay machines are located:

• at the main reception building in phase 1 (this takes card only)
• at the door outside the dental department in phase 2 (this takes cash or card)

Parking remains free for patients in the main Raigmore car parks but there is a considerable walk over to where the Diabetes Centre is located.

Patient transport

In some circumstances you may be eligible for patient transport to screening appointments which take place in hospital sites only. This service is not available to any other venues such as GP practices. Arrangements must be made by you directly with the patient transport team.

See information on patient transport.

Please remember if you have to reschedule or cancel your appointment to inform the transport team of any changes.