George supports call for action to improve care for diabetes sufferers

Local MP, Andrew George, has shown his support for tackling poor diabetes care by backing a call from Diabetes UK for a national plan to improve healthcare for sufferers.

Mr George attended Diabetes UK’s Parliamentary launch of its State of the Nation 2012 report, which revealed that just half of people with diabetes are getting the basic checks and services they need to manage their condition. The charity is urging the Government to implement a national implementation plan for improving diabetes healthcare.

Diabetes UK also held a lobby on the same day at the Houses of Parliament where people with diabetes directly appealed to MPs and ministers to commit to improving diabetes services and care. Throughout the day, many of those attending met with their MPs to share their stories of using diabetes services.

Mr George, who is a member of the Commons Health Select Committee, said: “As the Diabetes UK report shows, people with diabetes are not always getting the healthcare they need which puts them at risk of developing devastating health complications such as blindness and amputations.

“This is why I’m backing Diabetes UK’s reasonable call for a national implementation plan to co-ordinate an improvement in care for people with diabetes.”

Barbara Young, Chief Executive of Diabetes UK, said: “We are pleased to have Mr George’s support on what is a very important issue. Diabetes has become one of the biggest health challenges we face, with 3.7 million people with diabetes in the UK and 7 million people at high risk. Our State of the Nation report shows many people with diabetes are being badly let down by the poor quality of services on offer, which puts them at increased risk of developing life threatening complications and premature death. This is simply not good enough.

“We need effective treatment, services focused on prevention, early diagnosis, and greater screening if we are to effectively tackle this issue. This is why we are calling for a Government implementation plan to deliver this. The human and financial cost is simply too big to ignore.”

Diabetes UK’s State of the Nation report can be downloaded at www.diabetes.org.uk