The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 277 No 7410 p94
22 July 2006

This article
Reprint   Photocopy

  Acrobat Reader

News summary

Information provision for diabetes patients wanting

Only around one in six people with diabetes receives information every time they are given a prescription, according to a survey published this week by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, Diabetes UK and Ask About Medicines.

The Diabetes Information Jigsaw report (PDF 270K) also reveals that 8 per cent of diabetes patients do not receive any information from their health care professionals.

The report says that health professionals need to empower people with diabetes to seek to understand their medicines and condition better, which would lead to better compliance with their treatment programmes. According to the report, nearly one in five people with diabetes thinks it is not important to take their insulin or tablets every day according to their doctor’s or nurse’s directions.

But the report does not discuss what pharmacists are doing in educating diabetes patients, since it focuses on people’s interactions with their doctor or nurse. For example, over half of people with diabetes find it difficult to ask questions about their treatment because there is not enough time during their consultation to answer all their queries, or because their doctor or nurse seems too busy, says the report.

Mohammed Ibrahim, a supplementary prescriber working in clinics for uncontrolled type 2 diabetes patients in Leicestershire, commented on the findings: “It is astonishing that 58 per cent of people diagnosed with diabetes do not know what the diagnosis means. This demonstrates a real opportunity for pharmacists in helping people to understand their condition, and especially the need to continue to take their medicines as prescribed.”

Mr Ibrahim added that for many people with diabetes, pharmacists are the only health care professional they see on a regular basis and, because they are easily accessible, can play a key role in providing information to people with diabetes. “Medicines use reviews can also be used to discuss aspects of patients’ diabetes treatment and understanding,” he said.