14 July 2016

New Guidelines on Diabetes in Children Admirable - But Need Adequate Resourcing, Says College

RCGP Diabetes Lead, Dr Stephen Lawrence, has responded to new NICE guidance on diabetes in children and young people.

He said: “Diabetes – both type 1 and type 2 - are debilitating, long term conditions for patients, and can lead to other serious conditions, such as cardiovascular, eye and kidney disease, and the prevalence of both is increasing in patients of all ages.

“When we spot signs in children, it’s a priority for GPs to act quickly in order to give our young patients the best chance of maintaining a healthy, high quality of life for as long as possible.

“The aspirations from NICE are admirable, and a welcome addition to existing guidance - particularly for type 1 diabetes, having our patients that we suspect of having diabetes in front of a specialist within 24 hours is something that the College has called for.

“Whilst some colleagues may question the amalgamation of  children with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, this does remove the not insignificant challenge and potential delay in making a definitive diagnosis in a child presenting with more equivocal signs of the disease.

“However, it is essential that general practice, and onwards services, are resourced sufficiently in order for the new NICE recommendations to become a reality. We also need better joined up working across the health service, so that specialist services don’t become overloaded with any increase in demand, and that GPs don’t bear the brunt of criticism for simply following clinical guidance in the best interests of our patients.”

Further Information

RCGP Press office: 020 3188 7574/7575/7633
Out of hours: 0203 188 7659
press@rcgp.org.uk

Notes

The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of more than 50,000 family doctors working to improve care for patients. We work to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice and act as the voice of GPs on education, training, research and clinical standards.