What if I want to withdraw from the study?

It helps ASCEND-Eye to produce reliable results if we are able to obtain information about eye health on as many participants as possible by accessing their NHS Diabetic Eye Screening Programme data. If you decide you do not want your study data to be linked in this way you can withdraw from this exercise without affecting your current medical care. This can be done by contacting the study team who would require your identifiers to then inform the screening programme that you no longer wish to be included. You are free to do this at any time and don’t have to give us a reason. If you have any questions, please contact the study team using the details below:

ASCEND

Clinical Trial Service Unit

Richard Doll Building

University of Oxford

Old Road Campus

Headington

Oxford

OX3 7LF

E-mail: ascend@ndph.ox.ac.uk (the ascend@ctsu.ox.ac.uk e-mail will continue to work)

Freefone: 0800 585323

Office telephone: 01865 743888

Office fax: 01865 743981

The ASCEND trial and its sub-studies have been reviewed and approved by the North West Haydock Research Ethics Committee (Reference number: 03/8/087)