Quarter of diabetes cases ‘undiagnosed’

A quarter of all people in England who may have diabetes have not been identified, a report has suggested.

The Healthcare Commission report, Europe’s largest national audit of diabetes care, examined over 250,000 patients in England, covering over 1,700 GP surgeries, 47 hospital trusts and 58 specialist paediatric units, over 2003/04.

The early findings of the report suggested that nearly half of women with diabetes might be undiagnosed, while fewer than 50% of those who had been diagnosed had received eye examinations, increasing their risk of avoidable blindness.

The report also found that only 56% of sufferers were managing their glucose levels within the official guidelines.

The study said that further work was needed to determine whether there was a “systematic under-identification” of women aged 40 and above. It also said that problems of recording ethnicity needed to be addressed, because of an increased risk of diabetes for some ethnic groups.

The Healthcare Commission also said that monitoring glucose levels, cholesterol and blood pressure should be carried out on at least an annual basis for most patients.

Anna Walker, Chief Executive of the Healthcare Commission, said: “W expect to see changes as a result of this work and we will be using participation in the audit as part of our annual performance ratings for primary care trusts.

“It is very important that patients and the public are informed of and understand the benefits of treatment and follow-up care for diabetes, as well as the risks of long term complications that will result without diagnosis and treatment.”

Ms Walker said that the Healthcare Commission would be surveying 150,000 people with diabetes in Spring 2006. She said the results would then be used to review how well health services are supporting people with diabetes and provide recommendations to improve overall diabetes care in England.

Commenting on the report, Douglas Smallwood, Chief Executive at Diabetes UK said: “The longer people are left undiagnosed or are not managing their diabetes, the greater the risk of long term complications such as heart and kidney disease, blindness and amputations. The importance of this audit is that gaps are now identified and action can be taken by healthcare professionals to improve services.”

(KMcA/SP)