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Diabetic retinopathy / diabetic eye disease – Adult

Diabetic retinopathy / diabetic eye disease – Adult

Emergency and immediate referrals

Referral to Emergency Department:

  • Nil

Immediate Referral (seen within 7 days):

  • Sudden severe visual loss e.g. vitreous haemorrhage, retinal detachment or retinal vascular occlusion

To contact the relevant service, please refer to HealthPathways Acute Ophthalmology Assessment (seen within 7 days).

Presenting symptoms
  • Proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR)
  • Assessment of severe non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy threatening vision
  • Macular oedema
  • Vitreous haemorrhage in a person with diabetes
Mandatory referral information (referral will be returned if this information is not included)
  • Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) - vision with most recent distance spectacles
  • Date diagnosed/duration (or estimated if unknown)
  • Diabetes type, duration and HbA1c
  • Details and duration of treatments

If unable to attach reports, please include relevant information/results in the referral

Referrer to state reason if not able to include mandatory referral information in referral (e.g. patient unable to access test due to geographical location or financial cost)
Highly desirable referral information
  • Most recent optometrist or private ophthalmologist report including:
    • Refraction
    • Retinal assessment
    • Optical coherence tomography (OCT) results
  • BP
  • Fasting BGL
  • Previous eye treatment e.g., retinal laser
  • Fasting lipids results
Indicative triage category
Indicative triage category
Category 1
Appointment within 30 days

Diagnosis of diabetes and any of the following:

  • proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR)
  • vitreous haemorrhage
  • severe nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR)
  • assessment of diabetic retinopathy in pregnancy
  • centre involving diabetic macular oedema (Definition: thickening within 500 microns of the foveal centre associated with microaneurysms, haemorrhages or hard exudates) 
Category 2
Appointment within 90 days

Diagnosis of diabetes and any of the following:

  • moderate NPDR
  • non-centre involving diabetic macular oedema (Definition: thickening within 2-disc diameters (but not within 500 microns) of the foveal centre associated with microaneurysms, haemorrhages or hard exudates). 
Category 3
Appointment within 365 days
  • No defined category 3 criteria
Excluded ophthalmology services

Referral to public ophthalmology outpatient services is not routinely accepted for the following conditions:

Condition Details (where applicable)
Routine screening or mild non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy
  • Except those without a primary photo screening or local optometrist service
Useful Information for referring practitioners
wa.gov.au