To mark World Diabetes Day 2010, Diabetes UK has launched a new report, Diabetes in care homes – Awareness, screening, training, examining diabetes care in care homes. According to the report, one care home resident with diabetes is admitted to hospital every 25 minutes due to failings in screening and training.

The report found six out of ten care homes in England, which have residents with diabetes, fail to provide any training to their staff about the condition. The report also revealed less than a quarter (23 per cent) of care homes screen residents for diabetes on admission, and less than a third (28 per cent) screen for the condition on an annual basis. This missed screening means as many as 13,500 care home residents in the UK could have undiagnosed Type 2 diabetes and be at increased risk of complications associated with condition such as heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, blindness and amputation.

More than half of care homes (54 per cent) felt the local authority could do more to provide encouragement, information and guidance to offer effective diabetes care, and nearly two thirds (62 per cent) of local authorities had not made an assessment of the needs of older people with diabetes in their area.

Download the full report (PDF) 313KB.