3,000 diabetics ‘died because of lockdown’

A LACK of diabetes checks following the first lockdown may have killed more than 3,000 people, an NHS study suggests.

Those with the condition are supposed to undergo regular checks, to detect cardiac problems, infections, ulcers and other changes that could prove deadly.

But researchers said a move to remote forms of healthcare delivery and a reduction in routine care meant some of the most crucial physical examinations did not take place during the 12 months following the first lockdown.

Experts said the findings were “sobering” and showed patients had suffered “absolutely devastating” consequences from being “pushed to the back of the queue”.

The research, led by NHS chiefs, compares deaths last summer with those in the same period before the pandemic. The study found that over a 15-week period, non-covid deaths among diabetics rose 11 per cent – with an extra 3,075 such fatalities, including a surge in deaths from heart disease.

The study, led by Prof Jonathan Valabhji, national clinical director for diabetes and obesity, links the rise in deaths to a fall in care the previous year.

The study shows that during 2020-21, just 26.5 per cent of such patients received their full set of checks, compared with 48.1 per cent the year before.

Those who got all their checks in 2019-20 but did not receive them the following year had mortality rates 66 per cent higher than those who did not miss out, the study published in Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology found.

The analysis only compares deaths in England for two 15-week periods, from

July to October in 2021, with the same months in 2019, meaning that the true death toll is likely to be far higher, experts said.

There were 30,118 non-covid deaths among people with diabetes during the 2021 period, the research found. If uptake of checks had not fallen, there would have been 27,043 deaths – 3,075 fewer, researchers said. Among such patients, deaths from heart disease rose by 15 per cent, the figures show.

Last night, Prof Valabhji said: “This research highlights the importance of annual reviews and ongoing supported management for people living with diabetes to manage their condition well.

“The NHS made significant progress in increasing the number of people with diabetes completing all care processes before the pandemic and data published last month suggests we are heading in the right direction again.”