2012 a missed opportunity for improving NHS diabetes care

New research has revealed that the standard of diabetes care in the UK did not significantly improve in 2012.
A survey conducted by Diabetes UK found that NHS healthcare for most diabetic patients (85 per cent) either remained the same or worsened over the 12 months. Less people had an individualised care plan put together with their healthcare professional or were seen to by a member of a specialist diabetes care team when they were admitted to hospital.
Just 11 per cent of those polled reported an improvement in their level of care, which Diabetes UK said was “disappointing” given that it is now widely accepted that NHS care for type 1 and type 2 diabetes is not good enough.
Chief executive Barbara Young said: “A year ago, the Department of Health responded to criticism of diabetes healthcare by telling the NHS to improve the service it is offering people with the condition.
“But this survey shows that people with diabetes are not noticing things getting better, and this means 2012 has been a lost year and a missed opportunity to make the kind of changes that are so badly needed.
“It is clear that we are still a long way from consistently delivering good-quality, integrated health care.”
She added that the “government needs to make diabetes a national priority and insist that 2013 is the year when people with diabetes really start to notice their healthcare improving”.
“It is only by doing this that we will finally start to see the tragically high levels of diabetes-related complications and early deaths start to fall.”