Covid backlog is putting Stamford and Rutland diabetes sufferers' lives at risk
The backlog caused by covid is putting lives at risk according to a charity
The lives of thousands of people suffering from diabetes in Stamford and Rutland are being put at risk due to a backlog in care caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, a charity has warned.
Diabetes UK says that almost half of people with diabetes had difficulties managing their condition last year, according to their survey of more than 10,000 people.
In Leicestershire and Rutland, 49% of people with diabetes reported having difficulties managing their condition in the past year.
The charity has urged the Government to get services back on track before lives are “needlessly lost”.
More than 60% of the people who took the survey attributed the difficulties managing their condition partly to a lack of access to healthcare, which can prevent serious illness and early mortality from the cardiovascular complications of diabetes.
One in three had no contact with healthcare professionals about their diabetes in 2021, while one in six have still not had contact since before the coronavirus pandemic, the charity said.
Previous NHS figures showed that just 36% of diabetes sufferers in England received all their recommended checks in 2020-21, compared with 57% in 2019-20.
National diabetes recovery plan needed
Chris Askew, chief executive of Diabetes UK, called for a national recovery plan.
He said: “If people with diabetes cannot receive the care they need, they can risk devastating, life-altering complications and, sadly, early death.
“We know the NHS has worked tirelessly to keep us safe throughout the pandemic, but the impacts on care for people living with diabetes have been vast.
“While the UK Government has been focused on cutting waiting lists for operations and other planned care, people with diabetes have been pushed to the back of the queue.
“Urgent action is now required, which is why we’re calling on UK Government to implement a recovery plan for diabetes care.
“We need to get this essential, life-saving care back on track, or lives will be needlessly lost.”
Deprived areas had worse results in survey
The survey findings, which were published as part of the charity’s Diabetes Is Serious campaign, also revealed that people from the most deprived parts of the country were nearly twice as likely to have had no contact with their healthcare team since before the pandemic than those in the least deprived.
Former England footballer Gary Mabbutt, who has lived with type 1 diabetes for over 40 years and is backing the campaign, said: “I know from my own experience that complications from diabetes can be absolutely devastating, taking a heavy toll on people with diabetes and those close to them.
“For people with diabetes accessing vital care has been a huge challenge during the pandemic and continues to be as this report shows.”
Some 4.9 million – or one in 14 – people are living with diabetes in the UK.