When I was diagnosed the nurse initially said I was T2 because of my age, she believed that if you hadn't become diabetic by the time you were 21 or so then you could not develop diabetes until later on in life. I have come to realise that a lot of health professionals don't acutally know what they are talking about. They don't seem to be trained that thorougly in diabetes care. I mean the first nurse I ever met told me to try and keep my BG between 4 and 7. If I did this I would be having Hypo's all the time. I also met Dr's who like to treat me like a guinea pig because they haven't treated a diabetic before. Its crazy!
Always being told different things by different so called professionals who none of which have diabetes and don't really know what its like to live with, hence why I joined this site, speak to people who actually know what they are talking about.
Sorry starting rant on a bit now!!
I get the impression things have improved since 1985 when I was diagnosed - but then you'd expect that!

However, the research and the understanding of the disease has become more complex: I seem to remember that in 1985 you were either T1 or T2, full stop.
Currently, I get the impression that consultants are brilliant, that DSNs are fantastic but understaffed for the expanding multiplicity of needs of the increasing number of those with diabetes, and that maybe there should be more specialism among them, funding available of course.
I've always had great help from GPs too, though, of course, because they have to be more generalist, they may sometimes be on the back foot a bit in comparison with the diabetes patients themselves.
Also, I pinch myself, and think about diabetes worldwide, because it's a big problem in most continents, and I think diabetics in the UK have been dealt a very good hand, on the whole.