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New healthcare checklist for type 1 and type 2 diabetes patients

Diabetes patients should be be proactive about their health care

A checklist for people with diabetes advises them to access nurse-led services such as free vaccinations and sexual health advice.

The checklist, published by Diabetes UK, follows a survey that found 76% of people with diabetes who responded said they were not getting the emotional and psychological support they need and 46% said they had never been offered a course about diabetes.

Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust lead diabetes specialist nurse Claire Neely said: ‘Emotional and psychological support is missing for diabetes patients because clinical commissioning groups do not commission psychologists.’

Diabetes UK senior clinical adviser and diabetes specialist nurse Libby Dowling said: ‘Patients are not getting all these 15 essential healthcare checks at the moment because they do not all know that they should ask for it. Others are aware but are frightened to have tests and healthcare professionals have big caseloads and short appointment times.’

To read the full list of 15 healthcare essentials click here