DIABETES ACTION PLAN 2010

DIABETES ACTION PLAN 2010
QUALITY CARE FOR DIABETES IN SCOTLAND
1. INTRODUCTION
This Action Plan is a continuation of the range of work set out in the Scottish Diabetes
Action Plan published in 2006. The importance of continuity of effort was one of the main
messages to emerge from the consultation process undertaken between June and August
2009. The Better Diabetes Care consultation document (www.scotland.gov.uk/diabetes)
was widely distributed and made available online. The Scottish Diabetes Group (SDG),
also provided funding to Diabetes UK Scotland to drive the consultation process through
a national survey of people living with diabetes and a series of local and national events.
Over 85 organisations and many individuals responded to the consultation with a range of
thoughtful and valuable views. All responses were analysed and collated by the most
relevant sub group of the SDG. All sub groups are multidisciplinary and include
representation by people living with diabetes. In addition the SDG had access to and
advice from reports produced by the Scottish Public Health Network (www.scotphn.net),
the diabetes Managed Clinical Networks (www.diabetesinscotland.org.uk), the SIGN
Guideline development group (www.sign.ac.uk/guidelines/fulltext/116/index.html) and the
Type 1 Diabetes Short Life Working Group. Grateful thanks are due to the individuals and
organisations who contributed over the last few months. They are listed in Appendix 1.
The organisational and individual responses are available on the Scottish Government
website (www.scotland.gov.uk) and provide the basis for this Action Plan.
In this Action Plan, we have suggested the use of the expression ‘the diabetes community’
as a convenient way of indicating the interests uniting people living with diabetes,
healthcare professionals and voluntary sector organisations. When the word ‘we’ is used
later in the Action Plan, it should be understood as meaning ‘the diabetes community’.
Implementation of this Action Plan depends on continued collaboration between all
groups within the diabetes community and interactions with other national and
international organisations.
Background
Diabetes mellitus, recognised by a raised blood glucose level, is the most common
disorder of metabolism. Over 228,000 people, or one in twenty-five of the Scottish
population, have been diagnosed with the condition, and an estimated 20,000 remain
undiagnosed (www.scotpho.org.uk).
There are two main types of diabetes. About 13%, or over 27,000 people in Scotland,
have type 1 diabetes. This develops when there is a severe lack of insulin in the body
because most or all of the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin have been destroyed.
People with type 1 diabetes therefore need to inject insulin from the time of diagnosis.
Type 1 diabetes is one of the commonest long term conditions affecting children and
adolescents in Scotland, which has one of the highest prevalence rates of type 1 diabetes
in Europe.
11