Diabetes is a serious illness that requires regular follow-up. We can provide most of this care within the practice, but we also use external services provided by outside agencies where appropriate.
The specialist nurse in the Diabetic Clinic will perform your annual check and blood test, management of co-existing diseases that impact upon diabetes, retinal eye screening services and referral for insulin support where needed.
It is very important to note that hospital-based diabetic clinics are moving away from full annual checks to a problem-solving approach. Therefore, even if you have been to a hospital clinic for an annual review, they are unlikely to have performed the complete range of tests that are recommended for annual follow-up. We very strongly encourage you to come to the annual check that we offer all diabetics, even if you have been seen in the hospital too.
There is lots of helpful information at the Diabetes UK website.
You can know your diabetes risk score, using the ‘know your risk’ tool on the Preventing Diabetes Website (all you need to know is your waist size and weight):