New AI diabetes retinal screening programme aims to eliminate long wait times

Diabetic retinopathy, an eye disease that can lead to vision impairment or loss, is a major health issue across Aotearoa.

While public hospitals provide retinal screening for people with diabetes, their service delivery can be inefficient, resulting in accessibility gaps and long wait times for the community.

To address these challenges and help improve healthcare services, Baderdrive Doctors in Māngere has launched a diabetes retinal screening programme using artificial intelligence technology.

Minister for Health Simeon Brown, who launched the programme on Thursday, highlights the importance of early detection in managing diabetic retinopathy.

“Early detection for diabetic retinopathy is crucial for people living with diabetes to prevent impaired or lost vision,” Brown says.

“The numbers I think speak for themselves, 26,000 people who haven't received their recommended screening, and that highlights the way that the model of care currently is operating through people having to go on long waiting lists and that taking a long time to be able to get that screening and that makes it hard for people to actually get the care that they need.”

Forty-one per cent of those on the waiting list are Pasifika, disproportionately affecting these communities and restricting their access to timely care.

Dr Sirovai Fuata’i, general manager at Baderdrive Doctors, emphasises the importance of community-based healthcare, saying preventative care can mitigate health issues before they escalate into more severe and costly conditions.

“We believe that’s our core focus, and we want to do that well, and a lot of us have been doing that well,” Fuata’i says.

Minister for Health Simeon Brown trials new AI diabetic retinal screening technology. Photo/PMN News.

He says the community in South Auckland serves around 60,000 people and is supported by various services, including Work and Income, Kāinga Ora, Plunket, and local churches.

But Fuata’i says that access to healthcare remains a major challenge, as many residents find it difficult to travel to larger hospitals like Middlemore and Browns Road.

“We’re a big community with a lot of services, but we still are quite challenged when it comes to health,” he says.

Markerita Poutasi, Te Whatu Ora’s national director for Pacific Health, says it’s important to make retinal screening accessible through local centres.

Baderdrive Doctors staff. Photo/PMN News.

“[The] new retinal screening pilot is being rolled out across six Pacific providers in South Auckland, of which Baderdrive is leading the way and Southpoint Doctors have also started to use their camera,” Poutasi says.

“The purpose of the pilot is to really move retinal screening very much into the community … retinal screening is something people will need to do regularly.”

Poutasi says this pilot programme will eliminate long wait times and allow patients to receive prompt results at their local general practitioner (GP).

“Instead of booking something in Middlemore Hospital, where you’d have to go and wait four months to be seen and then have an assessment and a delay in those processes.

Local Māngere board members at the launch earlier today. Photo/PMN News.

“The opportunity is to really remove the four-month wait and give a better suite of services while you’re in here getting your check-up at your local GP.

In his address, Brown reaffirms the Government’s commitment to providing equitable healthcare services and outcomes for everyone.

“I think one of the really great things that we need to do much more of this is how can we get more services being delivered closer in primary healthcare and that’s a challenge right across health is how can we utilise our primary healthcare to be able to do more and more in our communities because that’s where people are known by their local doctors and by their primary healthcare teams, they have that relationship, they’re able to be seen more quickly and we’re able to prevent far more disease and conditions from developing and save a huge amount of cost further down.

“Ultimately, our hospitals play a really important role, but the more that we can do in our communities, the better,” Brown says.

“Ultimately our hospitals play a really important role but the more that we can do in our communities the better,” Minister Brown shares. Photo/PMN News.

Poutasi echoes Brown’s sentiments, saying there is a need for healthcare that is ‘by Pacific, for Pacific’.

“I think it’s really important to have by Pacific, for Pacific healthcare provision. Baderdrive has been here for over 27 years and with a suite of Sāmoan doctors, but also Tongan, Cook Islands, and Niueans.

“It’s really an important way for people to feel comfortable to come in and get the care that they need,” Poutasi says.

The new diabetic retinal screening technology is now available at Baderdrive Doctors in Māngere, providing immediate access to patients with no wait times.