Diabetics fear for health amid cuts

Diabetes patients have revealed fears for their health as screening services were cut - and said the risk of coronavirus had left them too scared to go to hospital.

A study to evaluate the experiences of people in Scotland with Type 1 diabetes during the pandemic, has been carried out by researchers at the University of Glasgow.

Dr Chris Bunn,a socio logist specialising in chronic conditions who is leading the research, said he was shocked by some of the testimonies from patients.

One patient told Dr Bunn they worried diabetes-related eye and nerve complications were ‘no longer being monitored’ and feared it ‘would lead to preventable damage being missed’.

Dr Bunn said: “All of these patients sp end a lot of time in their medical encounters being told how important it is to monitor themselves care - fully, to have all of the checkups put in place annually to make sure that various complications aren’t getting worse.

“But now all of that provision has just been dropped. The checks aren’t there. S o that creates a lot of anxiety for patients.”