NHS Tayside’s diabetes diagnosis delay

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) has found NHS Tayside failed to spot a patient had type 2 diabetes for years following an investigation.

The body further found the board missed several opportunities to reconsider their initial diagnosis of the patient and start them on appropriate treatment, according to a decision report published about the case.

The report, which refers to the patient and a family member who raised a complaint about the board on their behalf only as A and C respectively, recommended clinicians be more mindful of patients with atypical presentations when considering a diagnosis in future.

It said:“C complained on behalf of [A] about a delay in diagnosis of A’s type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). A was initially diagnosed with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) by their GP and began taking insulin.

“Over the following years, A was reviewed in the board’s diabetes clinic at varying intervals. After a number of years, and after further tests were performed, A’s diagnosis was changed to T2DM, and their treatment was altered.

“In response to our enquiries, the board said they considered that A’s care was appropriate and that there was no delay in diagnosis.

“We took independent advice from a consultant diabetologist. We found that there was an unreasonable delay in diagnosing A withT2DM.

“We found that it would have been reasonable to consider a potential diagnosis of T2DM at the time of the initial T1DM diagnosis, or soon after.

“We also found that the treatment used for T2DM could have been provided to A much earlier and we noted that there were a number of missed opportunities over the following years to reconsider the basis for the diabetes and thus additional treatment options.

“We upheld C’s complaint and made recommendations.”

A spokesperson for NHS Tayside commented:“We have accepted the recommendations in the report and are working to address them.”