A “shocking” number of children are being rushed to hospital each year with potentially fatal complications of diabetes, according to a charity. Many of the 3,300 cases in England in 2008/9 could have been prevented by better care, says Diabetes UK. It said that families still found it hard to access specialist diabetes teams and that high admission rates had been linked to service cuts. There are an estimated 25,000 young people in the UK with type 1 diabetes. The condition is most often diagnosed between the ages of 10 and 14.
Hospital admissions for diabetic ketoacidosis has shown a steady rise over recent years and this may be related to cuts in services. The number of emergency admissions could be reduced significantly with investment in appropriate care, diabetes advice and practical self-management support, which is somewhere that specialist physiotherapists may have a role.