People suffering from diabetes in Sheffield are to benefit from a new, specialist service based in GP surgeries.
The city is seeing an explosion of diabetes linked to growing obesity rates with 23,000 diagnosed cases and estimates of at least another 2,000 people whose condition is undiagnosed.
A community-based specialist diabetes support team has been launched by Central Sheffield GP Consortium, a cluster of 28 practices working together to improve services for patients in the centre of the city.
The groundbreaking team will not only deliver specialist support clinics in the community but provide training for GP practice nurses to provide ongoing diabetic care for patients who currently have to attend hospital outpatient clinics.
The team consists of Consultant Physician Adrian Scott, Diabetes Nurse Specialists Jane Henderson and Joanne Cartledge, Diabetes Specialist Dietician Val Naylor and a still to be appointed Specialist Diabetes Podiatrist.
GP Tim Hooson, who led the review of diabetic services in the Central Consortium, said: “It makes clinical and financial sense to deliver more care closer to where patients live and we believe this new team will ensure the specialist expertise found in hospitals is released into local GP surgeries.
“The new service will enable patients to be seen by the most appropriate professional and have more involvement in planning their own care.
“The team will give primary care staff the training to provide routine diabetic management within a primary care setting. They will also provide specialist care and advice for patients with more complex needs, with the aim of keeping as many people as possible away from hospital.”
Recent research has revealed that from 1997 to 2003 there was a 74 per cent rise in new cases of diabetes. And by 2005, more than 4 per cent of the population was classed as having diabetes - nearly double the rate of 10 years earlier.
There are currently over 2.5 million people with diabetes in the UK, with the bulk of cases being type 2 diabetes which is linked to being overweight or obese. There are also more than half a million people with diabetes who have the condition and don't know it.
The NHS is spending £1m an hour – 10 per cent of its yearly budget - treating diabetes and its complications, according to the Diabetes UK charity.
Tim added: “People feel much more comfortable popping to their local GP surgery and we are very excited about this new service.
“It is all about providing high quality care in a local setting. The service should be much more flexible and geared to meeting individual needs rather than patients having to fit in with a rigid hospital appointments system.
“High quality care that enables people with diabetes to understand and manage their own condition is vital, to both helping people live a life that is independent of diabetes, and to reducing the human and financial costs resulting from complications.”
The team will initially be working with patients in the 28 practices which are members of Central Sheffield GP Consortium. The new service will be evaluated, and if successful, may be rolled out to other parts of the city.