Patients with type 1 diabetes are blocked from specialist services by NHS commissioning policies

NHS commissioning frameworks and policies are preventing patients in England with type 1 diabetes from getting the care that they need from specialist services, the Association of British Clinical Diabetologists has warned.

As a result, many patients with type 1 diabetes are being treated in hospital for hypoglycaemic incidents, diabetic ketoacidosis, and ultimately complications such as diabetic retinopathy and diabetic foot, which could have been avoided if they had received specialist support early on to help them manage their insulin concentrations better.

The national diabetes audit, published in June, showed that while just over half of patients with diabetes received all nine recommended annual checks annually (54.3%),1 the proportion of patients with type …