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Diabetics' special service - AUDIO INTERVIEW
DIABETICS in Sheffield are to benefit from a new specialist service based in GP surgeries.
The city is seeing an explosion of diabetes cases linked to growing obesity rates. Some 23,000 people are diagnosed, and at least another 2,000 are estimated to be suffering undiagnosed.
A community-based specialist diabetes support team has been launched by Central Sheffield GP Consortium, a cluster of 28 practices working together to improve services for patients in the centre of the city.
The groundbreaking team will not only deliver specialist support clinics in the community but provide training for GP practice nurses to provide ongoing care for patients who currently have to attend hospital out-patient clinics.
The team consists of consultant physician Adrian Scott, diabetes nurse specialists Jane Henderson and Joanne Cartledge, diabetes specialist dietician Val Naylor, and a still to be appointed specialist diabetes podiatrist.
GP Tim Hooson, who led the review of diabetic services in the Central Consortium, said: "It makes clinical and financial sense to deliver more care closer to where patients live, and we believe this new team will ensure the specialist expertise found in hospitals is released into local GP surgeries. The new service will enable patients to be seen by the appropriate professional and have more involvement in planning their own care.
"The team will give primary care staff the training to provide routine diabetic management within a primary care setting. They will also provide specialist care and advice for patients with more complex needs, with the aim of keeping as many people as possible away from hospital."
Research has revealed a 74 per cent rise in new cases of diabetes from 1997 to 2003. By 2005, more than four per cent of the population was classed as having diabetes - nearly twice as many as 10 years earlier.
Dr Hooson added: "People feel much more comfortable popping to their local GP surgery and we are very excited about this new service.
"It is all about providing high quality care in a local setting. The service should be much more flexible and geared to meeting individual needs rather than patients having to fit in with a rigid hospital appointments system."
The team will initially work with patients in the 28 practices which are members of Central Sheffield GP Consortium. The new service will be evaluated and, if successful, may be rolled out to other parts of the city.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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