Diabetes is a lifelong condition that causes a person's blood sugar level to become too high.

There are 2 main types of diabetes:

• Type 1 diabetes – where the body's immune system attacks and destroys the cells that produce insulin
• Type 2 diabetes – where the body does not produce enough insulin, or the body's cells do not react to insulin

Type 2 diabetes is far more common than type 1. In the UK, around 90% of all adults with diabetes have type 2.

During pregnancy, some women have such high levels of blood glucose that their body is unable to produce enough insulin to absorb it all. This is known as gestational diabetes.

Each year your diabetes should be reviewed to check for progression or improvement in condition. It also allows for us to ensure that you are receiving the correct treatment and that you are up to date with current support and advice.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a delay in getting reviews done, so we are introducing new ways of working to maximise convenience for our patients and efficiency for our clinicians to ensure we can get back on track as quickly as possible.

This service is for routine reviews, if you are struggling with your diabetes, please call the surgery on 01438 715044 to book a telephone consultation. If you are unwell and it is an emergency, call 999 or attend A&E.

If you have not been called for your review yet and you are due or would like to be seen, please call or attend (avoiding the busy 8am & 12pm call times if possible) the surgery to ask for a diabetic review.

The following process will then take place...

1) Blood Test & Urine Sample - you will be asked to book an appointment either here at the surgery or at the hospital for a blood test. You will also need to provide a urine sample, which can be dropped off at reception or taken to the hospital when you attend for your blood test. Please note the urine sample must have a request form with it, otherwise the lab will reject the sample. These tests will need to be done prior to your health check & clinical review.

2) Health Check & Clinical Review - you will be contacted by a member of our admin team to schedule an appointment to attend the surgery for one of our specialist diabetic clinics. During this visit, you will be seen to have your height, weight, blood pressure and feet checked and then you will see our diabetic specialist nurse or a GP to discuss results and your ongoing care.

We hope this 'one stop shop' approach will be more convenient and effective for our patients. Please bring any home blood pressure readings and/or blood glucose monitoring diaries with you to the appointment for review.