NHS needs to improve diabetes education for healthcare professionals
Healthcare professionals in England are being let down by a lack of education and training on diabetes, according to new research.
Charity group Diabetes UK found that only 40% of the country’s Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) fund specific diabetes education for their doctors, nurses and other professionals, while just over half (56%) allocate time for their NHS employees to undertake diabetes-related training or development.
Additionally, only a quarter of the 56% allow dieticians and podiatrists to take time out for diabetes education, despite support from these specialist staff vital for helping to reduce the risk of serious diabetic complications such as amputation.
The worrying figures come from a survey of CCGs and, according to Diabetes UK, suggest that “care is being provided to people with diabetes by staff who may not have an adequate level of knowledge about this complex condition”.
The statistics are also supported by a separate poll of users of the Diabetes in Healthcare e-learning programme, which is designed for healthcare professionals who are not diabetes specialists. The research found that following completion of the Diabetes UK and Bupa developed course, 8 out of 10 respondents reported an improvement in their knowledge and understanding of diabetes and said they felt more …read more
Source:: News from Diabetes.co.uk