Children with suspected diabetes should be seen by a specialist immediately, says NICE

If a GP suspects a child has diabetes they should send them to be seen by a multidisciplinary paediatric diabetes team on the same day, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has said.1

The NICE quality standard, Diabetes in Children and Young People, states that a delay in diagnosis and care puts patients at higher risk of diabetic ketoacidosis, which is life threatening but preventable.

Diabetes is becoming more common in the UK; around 26 400 children have type 1 diabetes and 500 have type 2 diabetes.

The quality standard said that, at diagnosis, children with type 1 diabetes should …