Thousands of diabetics could lose a foot or a leg because of a “dramatic shortage” of specialist nurses.
Nearly 40% of diabetes nurses’ roles are being reviewed or have been downgraded because of savage NHS cuts, according to the charity Diabetes UK and two nursing organisations.
And a third of hospitals do not have any specialists who are trained to spot symptoms that cause heart and kidney disease or nerve damage – which can lead to amputation.
Patients’ complications account for 80% of the £10billion annual diabetes spend.
Short-term cost cutting, such as the Coalition slashing £20billion from the NHS by 2015, will be “devastating”, says a report.
Diabetes UK’s Baroness Barbara Young warned of a “black hole opening up” as diabetics numbers are set to hit five million by 2025.
More on this article here
Geri
2 comments:
NHS RIP it will never be the same.
NHS RIP.... Too right! I used to work for it and find it deeply disturbing to see what's happening.
Geri
Post a Comment