20 per cent of hospital visitors have diabetes

A national audit has revealed the full enormity of the diabetes epidemic. According to data from NHS hospitals, 20 per cent of patients in hospital wards in the UK now have diabetes . The figure is twice as high as previously suggested.
Diabetes experts were quick to highlight obesity as the reason behind the record levels, caused by ever more unhealthy diets and lifestyles. The long-term complications of diabetes, which include neuropathy, blindness and amputations mean many people with diabetes are regular visitors to hospital. The healthcare cost implications are tremendous.
The clinical director for diabetes at Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, Professor Anthony Barnett, was reported as confirming: “The situation we are facing as a country is absolutely terrifying. The obesity rates get worse and worse, the numbers with diabetes keep mushrooming, and given that these people are prone to a whole range of other serious medical conditions, it has an enormous impact on NHS resources.”
Update: The statistic that one in five NHS hospital patients has diabetes comes from research that is yet to be analysed. The Department of Health made it clear that, as yet, this fact is unverifiable.