Diabetes: Missed routine checks are causing premature deaths in England, charity warns

Urgent action is needed to tackle the missed checks and health inequalities that are causing avoidable deaths among people with diabetes in England, the charity Diabetes UK has said.

A report examining the state of diabetes care in England1 said that urgent attention was needed from the government and the NHS to tackle a backlog in routine diabetes care that was causing many people to miss out on annual checks for things such as blood sugar and blood pressure that can reduce their risk of complications such as heart disease, hospital admission, and premature death.

The charity highlighted that more than 7000 excess deaths involving diabetes were …