Poor diabetic care leads to excess deaths
By Clare Gooch
As we reflect on Awareness Week we take time to understand the importance of maintaining stability with glucose levels to prevent serious, life changing consequences.
It has recently been reported that delayed health checks amongst diabetic patients may have contributed to 7,000 or more deaths across England last year.
The routine checks are meant to help lower the risk of serious complications that occur with such as amputations and heart attacks. However, too many people across the UK are being left to their own devices in managing their condition, which is noted to have a poorer outcome.
NHS England have said that returning routine care to pre-pandemic levels has been a key priority. It is reported that local areas have been given £36m to help restore diabetic services to help reduce the serious complications that are being seen.
There are more than 5 million people in the UK living with and 2 million of them missed routine checks between 20-21. A lot of this will be blamed on the pandemic. However, in a post pandemic world, routine checks should be mandatory to avoid serious and life altering injuries.
At Switalskis, we are seeing an increasing number of enquiries relating to poor diabetic control that have led to life changing injuries. We support many individuals who have sadly suffered at the hands of GP and hospital trust failures , in particular failings to monitor leading to serious consequences.
If you have been affected by any of the above, please contact us so that we can begin to support you.
Clare has worked in Medical Negligence for over 10 years. She’s a Senior Associate Solicitor in our Medical Negligence team based in Switalskis’ London office.
