WIREDGOV

Two thirds of people with Type 1 diabetes and almost half of Type 2 patients do not receive all nine annual health checks to manage their diabetes effectively, according to the biggest ever audit of diabetes in England and Wales.

The National Diabetes Audit 2010 shows children and young people are less likely to receive all the recommended checks, such as blood pressure, blood glucose and foot checks.

At risk of developing long term complications

The figures cause concern that a whole generation with diabetes may require substantial hospital care in the future for the treatment of long term complications such as heart disease, blindness and kidney failure.

The report also revealed that more than 800,000 people with diabetes have high risk blood glucose levels putting them at increased risk of complications.

It also identified substantial regional variations in both the prevalence and treatment of complications such as kidney failure and dialysis.

Campaigning for improved care

Barbara Young, Chief Executive at Diabetes UK, said: “This highlights the need for urgent action to ensure that people with diabetes start to receive all the basic care processes, otherwise there will be more amputations, more people going blind, and more cases of kidney failure, heart disease and stroke.

“We will campaign to improve the levels of care and support for people affected by diabetes at a time of unprecedented change in the NHS.”

You can download the full audit at the NHS Information Centre website: www.ic.nhs.uk/nda.