Diabetes care future fears

The diabetes epidemic, regarded by some as the greatest threat to future healthcare systems across the globe, is no less of a problem in the United Kingdom. Worries were re-iterated last night, following a ward cut in New Cross Hospital .
D18, a specialist ward that deals with diabetes care, is to be slashed in half. 14 beds will replace the 28 currently on the ward, leaving staff surprised and ‘absolutely devastated.’ Bosses of the Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS trust were quick to say that diabetes care in the hospital would not be affected. The trust has a £37m deficit, and D18 is one of two wards that will close.
The news has impacted badly on the staff, with resignations, tears and refusal to work shifts. On nurse was reported as saying: “Some of them went home crying. Some of them are young girls with families and mortgages and they are worried. We have been told we will be offered jobs because there is no money for redundancy, but the attitude is there’s a job, if you don’t like it clear off.”
An executive for the trust in charge of the decision said that diabetes admissions had declined in recent years, and that doctors thought sufferers should be treated in the community . The diabetes consultant at New Cross has backed the move, apparently.
The news carries important implications for the overall healthcare treatment of diabetes and diabetes complications in this country . With a mounting burden caused by diabetes, the time has surely come for an increased budget for the condition.