NHS ‘must improve diabetes services’

A new study has stated that the NHS must meet the challenge of continuing to provide diabetes patients in the UK with a high standard of service.

The report entitled The Way Ahead: The Local Challenge revealed that the number of people being diagnosed with the condition has increased in recent years but claimed that this growth in patients provides the health service with fresh issues.

According to the research, GPs are identifying more Britons with diabetes and are helping patients gain access to high-quality healthcare advice and support but its authors insisted that this level of service must be maintained.

“But as more people are diagnosed with diabetes, the NHS must step up to the challenge of continuing to provide high quality services that are convenient for patients,” commented health minister Rosie Winterton.

She added that the report proves that “excellent work is already underway” and advised primary care trusts to consider the best ways to provide services to diabetes patients in their locality.

A spokesman for the association Diabetes UK recently predicted that the number of people with the condition in the UK is likely to increase by nearly a third within three years.