Report reveals shock diabetes deaths

London: Failings in NHS care for the growing number of diabetics lead to 24,000 unnecessary deaths each year and many others suffering blindness and amputation, a report by the government's spending watchdog reveals.

Treatment of diabetics in England is so inadequate that barely half of the 3.1 million people with the condition receive the regular NHS checks intended to keep them healthy, the National Audit Office (NAO) found.

Every diabetic is meant to undergo nine care processes each year to reduce the risk of complications, such as having blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol levels measured and eyes examined for damage to the retina to reduce the risk of complications.

But the NAO's inquiry found in 2009-10 "only half of the increasing number of people with diabetes received all the recommended care processes", despite the Department of Health (DH) having set out the care standards in 2001.

Barely one in seven diabetics was achieving treatment standards. Just 16 per cent of patients received adequate treatment to control their blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

And 69 per cent failed to reach at least one of the standards, while 15 per cent had no testing at all.

The report also criticises the variation in the quality of care diabetics receive. Mid Essex NHS Primary Care Trust (PCT) only managed to give 6 per cent of its diabetic patients all nine checks in 2009-10, while the best performer, Gateshead, still only did so for 69 per cent of patients.

Better management of diabetics could save the NHS 170m a year, the NAO said.

Barbara Young, chief executive of Diabetes UK, said: "It has been clear for the last 10 years what needs to happen to fix the problem, but the plan the government published has never been implemented. Action is needed now."

— Guardian News & Media Ltd