State of the diabetes nation

A new report in the UK indicates the overall condition of diabetes services throughout the UK. The report indicates that diabetes treatment in many areas is patchy, despite improvements in retinal screening .
The report is entitled ‘Diabetes: State of the Nations 2006,’ and highlights several major problem areas. These include poor diabetes control amongst children and the resultant higher risk of complications. The report indicates that the number of children per Paediatric Diabetes Specialist Nurse (PDSN) has also increased.
Douglas Smallwood, the Chief Executive of Diabetes UK, said: “This is an extremely valuable report as it allows us to identify gaps in service provision. We are very concerned that some children are struggling to see a specialist nurse. With the inevitable explosion of children with Type 2 diabetes, additional resources are needed or nurses will be faced with ever increasing caseloads.”
Diabetes UK are calling for a number of further services for diabetic children, including better investment, links between teams and schools, and better transferal from child to adult services.