Bridget Turner
Director of Policy, Campaigns and Improvement, Diabetes UK
There is an immense backlog facing diabetes care. We need to do more to help tackle it and make diabetes a greater priority within the healthcare agenda.
Diabetes cannot be switched on and off. It’s a serious condition and it is with you constantly. Imagine not being able to get the essential checks, care and support you need to get by day to day. Imagine not being able to get an appointment which could prevent you from developing a devastating, life-altering complication – a stroke or a heart attack, or a foot problem which could lead to amputation. A complication which could, ultimately, result in early death.
Yet that’s what some of the 4.9 million people living with diabetes in the UK are facing right now, due to a backlog in routine yet vital diabetes care caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s why we took our Diabetes Is Serious campaign to Parliament in April because, despite the tireless efforts of the NHS through the pandemic, something needs to be done – before it’s too late.
Just 36% of people with diabetes in England received all their recommended checks in 2020/21, compared with 57% in 2019-20.
Preventing the mounting crisis
Our latest report on the backlog, titled Recovering Diabetes Care: Preventing the Mounting Crisis, was informed by a survey of more than 10,000 people living with and affected by diabetes. It reveals:
- Almost half (47%) had experienced difficulties managing their condition in 2021.
- We found 63% of people attributed this in part to not having sufficient access to their healthcare team, rising to 71% in the most deprived areas of the country.
- One in six people reported no contact whatsoever about their diabetes with their healthcare team since before the pandemic.
These findings are backed up by NHS figures which show that just 36% of people with diabetes in England received all their recommended checks in 2020/21, compared with 57% in 2019-20.
The lack of priority and urgency given to recovering diabetes care is, quite simply, not acceptable or sustainable. By speeding up recovery of diabetes care to make sure everyone gets the care and support they need, we can prevent longer-term harm, help more people to live well and address health inequalities.
Calling for change and support
Our key calls to UK Government are for them to support the urgent restoration of routine diabetes care, and to recommit to improving outcomes for people with and at risk of diabetes in the updated NHS Long Term Plan.
We’ll continue to press for this renewed focus on diabetes to get this essential, life-saving care back on track.
You can find out more about our Diabetes Is Serious campaign at: www.diabetes.org.uk/get_involved/campaigning/diabetes-is-serious.
