InDependent Diabetes Trust: Young diabetics ‘get worse care’

There is an urgent need for effective public health strategies to deal with diabetes, starting with more consistent NHS testing, says Jenny Hirst, Chair of the InDependent Diabetes Trust(IDDT).

For those that have diabetes, is there a consistent quality of diagnosis and care across the NHS?
More people would be diagnosed if the government’s health checks for people between the ages of 40 and 74 were carried out more consistently. For people diagnosed, the care and treatment of people with diabetes varies across the country, as shown by last National Diabetes Audit 2012-13.

The nine key checks recommended annually for people with diabetes are not being received by many people under the age of 40, with only 29.1% with Type 1 diabetes and 46.3% with Type 2 diabetes receiving eight of the nine NICE recommended checks. By comparison, people aged 65 to 79 received the highest rate of eight checks at 59.9% with Type 1 and 66.7% with Type 2 diabetes.

So, there is only one conclusion to be drawn – younger people with diabetes are receiving significantly worse care and treatment than older people, yet younger people will live longer with diabetes putting them at greater risk of developing complications that will affect their health and possibility their mortality. Systems for the care and treatment of people with both types of diabetes must be improved.

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