The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 279 No 7476 p491
3 November 2007

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Diabetes monitoring needs more attention

Less than a third of diabetes patients are receiving all the necessary monitoring for their condition, according to a National Diabetes Audit 2005–06 report published last week by The Information Centre — the NHS data collection authority. Nevertheless, this figure is improving year on year, the report says.

The audit, which looked at nearly 656,000 patient records in England and Wales, was undertaken on behalf of the Healthcare Commission.

The report shows that there is an increasing trend for diabetes patients to achieve the levels for HbA_1c, cholesterol and blood pressure recommended by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.

However, it points out that some 40 per cent of patients have an HbA_1c higher than 7.5 per cent. Nearly three quarters of the patients analysed had achieved the NICE-recommended cholesterol measure of less than 5mmol/L.

In an accompanying report on specialist paediatric diabetes services, The Information Centre reveals that some 30 per cent of people 24 years of age or younger with diabetes have HbA_1c levels greater than 9.5 per cent and only a sixth are achieving a target of less than 7.5 per cent. It adds that nearly 9 per cent experienced at least one episode of ketoacidosis in 2005–06.

The review of 12,924 children and young people with diabetes represents a 65 per cent increase in participation by paediatric units in England and Wales.

Commenting on the paediatric report, Diabetes UK chief executive Douglas Smallwood said: “Although there has been a large increase in the amount of data submitted last year, this still represents under half of the population. We would urge as many paediatric units as possible to take part in the audit next year.”