Medication mistakes suffered by diabetes inpatients

MORE THAN 260,000 diabetes inpatients experienced a medication error during their hospital stay last year – putting them at risk of lasting harm or death, a report has warned.

The charity Diabetes UK said that of these, 9,600 diabetes inpatients experienced a serious and potentially life-threatening episode of hypoglycaemia because of poor insulin management during their hospital stay.

More than a million people with diabetes were admitted to hospital last year, and one in six hospital beds are currently occupied by people with diabetes. This number is expected to rise to one in four by 2030.

The charity is now calling for hospitals to adopt six key requirements which would make them safe for people with diabetes, lead to better patient experiences, and shorter lengths of stay.

Inpatients with diabetes have higher infection rates and longer lengths of stay (one to three days longer than patients without diabetes), leading to greater NHS spending and workload.

Diabetes inpatient care costs the NHS £2.5bn a year – 11 per cent of the annual inpatient budget.

Diabetes UK said adopting its recommendations and having the right workforce in place could significantly reduce NHS spending and alleviate the strain on services.

A spokeswoman for NHS England said: “NHS England has recently invested £10m to increase the number of specialist diabetes nurses working in hospitals, and evidence shows they help reduce lengths of stay and medication errors for patients with diabetes.

“As we draw up the long term plan for the NHS, we need to build on existing work, including the Diabetes Treatment and Care programme, to help tackle this growing problem.”