Last year our State of the Nation report highlighted a major health crisis. More and more people were living with or at risk of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Growing numbers of them were experiencing devastating complications, but the NHS still struggled to deliver the care and education people with diabetes need to manage their condition.
This year’s report shows that diabetes continues to be a major challenge for the NHS. It is still a huge drain on resources, quality of care still depends on where you live, and the crisis is still not being taken seriously. The key problems we highlighted last year remain, and these will only worsen as the numbers involved increase.
Almost a quarter of a million people were diagnosed with diabetes last year; couple these with our estimates for undiagnosed diabetes and that means a massive 7.4 per cent of England’s population live with the condition.
The quality of diabetes care across the country is still patchy and risks making the already unacceptable ‘postcode lottery’ in standards of prevention and care worse.
Looking at the standards for diabetes care recommended by NICE, people who live in the best-performing Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) area are four times more likely to be given eight of the vital health checks recommended by NICE as compared to people living in the worst-performing area.
Diabetes education, care planning and support for self management are vital to improving people’s day-to-day control. But only 4.2 per cent of all people with diabetes are being offered education.
We know what needs to happen:
- more focus on ensuring people know about diabetes and its serious consequences
- more effective programmes of risk assessment and early diagnosis
- provision and promotion of effective self-management support for people living with diabetes
- delivery of better care, meeting NICE-recommended essential standards
- integrated care planned around the needs of the individual and underpinned by multidisciplinary local diabetes networks to co-ordinate timely access to specialist care
- effective promotion of lifestyle change for those at risk of developing the condition.
More on this story here.
We know what needs to happen. DUK must stop sucking up to their Paymasters Big Pharma and junk food. They must stop promoting the diet of death for diabetics. The carbs with every meal, drugs with every meal must stop. The NHS stats prove DUK has accomplished nothing in the last five years, other than send ever more diabetics to an early grave FACT !
Eddie
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