NHS diabetes care standards ‘reaching crisis point’

Diabetes healthcare standards in England have fallen to a point where urgent corrective action is required, a new report has stated.

Charity organisation Diabetes UK has published its State of the Nation 2012 report, revealing that less than half of people with the condition are getting the nine basic health checks and services recommended by the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence.

In some areas, only six percent of people are receiving these basic checks, while in other regions fewer than 50 percent of diabetes sufferers have been diagnosed.

According to the charity, this is not only fuelling a rise in rates of diabetes-related complications, but is also placing a growing burden on strained NHS budgets.

Barbara Young, chief executive of Diabetes UK, said: "With the number of people with diabetes rising so rapidly, unless urgent action is taken now, this rising tide threatens to sink the NHS."

Figures from the organisation show that 2.9 million people are known to suffer from diabetes in the UK, with an estimated 850,000 people having the condition without being aware of it.