About us:
Our company boasts 30 years of experience in specialist ophthalmic photography and over 15 years of experience in the provision of Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Services (DRSS) in the NHS and Private sector. ‘Our work in the National Health Service and Private Sector has achieved an enviable reputation for quality, consistency and reliability’ state Richard Hildred our company founder and Managing Director.
Medical Imaging evolved following a period of ten years working in the National Health Service by Managing Director Mr Richard Hildred. During this period from 1973-1983, he worked at hospitals including The Children’s in Ladywood, Birmingham & Midland Eye, and Sandwell District General in West Bromwich. This gave Richard valuable experience in all aspects of Medical Illustration and Ophthalmic Photography.
In 1986, after a period of three years working for the American company AMI, he set up at the Priory Hospital in Birmingham what was the first full-time independent Medical Photography business in a private hospital in the United Kingdom. Medical Imaging was born.
Medical Imaging’s experience in the provision of Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Services (DRSS) began in the early 1990’s. Our company pioneered the mobile retinal camera technique visiting community GP practices in Worcestershire almost two decades ago. Forward thinking general practitioners requested if the ophthalmic imaging equipment used in hospital ophthalmology departments could be used in practice. We gladly obliged and our DRSS arm of the company was created.
Our innovation extended beyond simply taking the retinal camera equipment into primary care settings and into the realms of the digital age. We were possibly the first DRSS provider to use high resolution scanning techniques to digitise the retinal photographs from film allowing them to be viewed, enhanced and importantly archived on computer. In essence our company was providing digital retina images while digital photography itself was still in its infancy.
Screening service provision:
We pride ourselves on providing a flexible service that meets the exacting demands of each area, tailoring our service provision according to the locality and not to a set template. This has enabled our company to expand from humble beginnings in rural Worcestershire to large scale solutions in urban Greater London.
We aim to supply a service that is centred on the patient. We do not discriminate against age, ability, ethnicity or geography, providing accessible and efficient community based clinics. Our screening programmes are delivered to a national scale, specification and standard meeting the criteria laid out in the National Service Framework (NSF) and by the National Screening Committee (NSC).
As a company we aim to provide our patients and clients with a consistently high level of care, skill and professional integrity. We believe that the service we provide represents outstanding economic value, yet maintains the highest technical and professional standards clinically achievable. We aim to be fully involved in improving the health and social care of the people we serve. Our commitment extends not just to our patients, but to our staff, our careers and our profession as a whole.
Today, Medical Imaging is the largest and most successful provider of Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Services in the Country. We currently hold contracts with 11 PCT’s; Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Warwickshire, Knowsley, Harrow, Hillingdon, Ealing, Hounslow, Kingston, Waltham Forest and South East Essex with a responsibility for screening a population of over 100,000 patients. Service provision varies depending upon the local requirements. In the majority of cases we provide full end to end service provision from call/recall through screening, primary grading, secondary grading, referral and reporting.
It is Medical Imaging’s commitment to ophthalmic imaging that allows us to be at the forefront of this industry. Our private funding enables us to move with the times and to keep up-to-date with technology as rapidly as it evolves.
Our mission:
As a company we aim to provide our patients and clients with a consistently high level of care, skill and professional integrity. We believe that the service we provide represents outstanding economic value, yet maintains the highest technical and professional standards clinically achievable. Our commitment extends not just to our patients, but to our staff, our careers and our profession as a whole.
Our vision:
A promise that we with the assistance of our patients and commissioners will be fully involved in improving the health and social care of the people we serve.
Our values:
Medical Imaging’s mission, vision and values are to provide a patient centric service that aims to improve the health and wellbeing of the patients we serve by working to achieve excellence in service delivery. It is our view that this ethical consideration for our patients has made our company the success it is today.