DIABETICS FACING DEADLY HOSPITAL CARE RISK
NHS in new medication scandal
TENS of thousands of diabetics in hospital are having their lives put at risk by being given the wrong medication.
A staggering 260,000 inpatients were given dosage errors last year and almost 10,000 suffered potentially fatal incidents because of poor insulin management, a report showed.
The scandal was revealed by research charity Diabetes UK, which found shocking
“inadequacies” in the care diabetics receive. It is now calling for doctors and nurses to receive specialist training to help them better understand the debilitating condition.
The scale of the problem is highlighted by figures showing that the diabetes epidemic sweeping Britain is so severe that one in six hospital beds is occupied by someone with the disease.
Around 25,000 ward beds are given over to patients with the life-threatening condition, placing enormous strain on stretched NHS resources.
The figures are revealed in the Diabetes UK report published today.
Chief executive Chris Askew said: “The NHS is under immense strain and diabetes is just one of the complex issues competing to be a priority.
“However, the number of diabetes inpatients receiving inadequate levels of care is a clear reflection that more must be done to make hospitals safe for those living with diabetes.
“The evidence clearly shows that fully resourced, proactive diabetes inpatient teams and an educated inpatient workforce can lead to happier, better supported patients and shorter lengths of stay. We will continue to work for better care for people with diabetes until every patient feels safe in hospital, from the time of admission to the point of discharge.”
Estimates show that by 2030 one in four hospital beds will be occupied by someone with the disease.
More than one million diabetics were admitted to hospital last year.
Nine in 10 were not admitted because of their diabetes yet 9,600 people required urgent treatment after slipping into a coma following a severe hypoglycaemic attack, where the blood sugar falls to dangerously low levels.
Some incidents happen because medical staff focus on the cause of the hospitalisation, meaning the diabetes can get forgotten or pushed to the background.
The damning audit was compiled after visits to hospitals across the UK and interviews with patients, inpatient teams, healthcare professionals and hospital managers.
It found a quarter of hospitals do not have a diabetes inpatient specialist nurse, with trusts struggling to recruit and many posts left unfilled.
Alarmingly, the charity found the number of trainee doctors choosing to specialise in diabetes is also falling. In 2017, 235,000 diabetics should have been seen by a specialist inpatient team but were not.
Diabetes UK said adopting a series of recommendations and having the right workforce in place could slash NHS spending and alleviate the strain on services.
It said that investing £5million on new diabetes inpatient specialist nursing services in 54 trusts would yield savings of £14million a year, a net saving of £9million annually.