Offer children monitoring devices, says NICE
Children with type 2 diabetes should be offered real time continuous glucose monitoring if they have a disability that means they find finger prick testing difficult, says new guidance from the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.1 Children who would otherwise have to test their blood manually at least eight times a day, as well as those with recurrent or severe hypoglycaemia, and all those taking insulin, should also be offered real time continuous glucose monitoring. Intermittently scanned glucose monitoring, or flash devices, can be offered to children aged over 4 who take insulin or who express a preference for them.
Make eight health checks routine, says charity
Diabetes UK has called for urgent action to establish the eight health checks required for people with diabetes after a survey of 11 000 people in England found that under half (47%) had received all of them in 2021-22, down from 57% before the covid-19 pandemic. More than 7000 excess deaths involving diabetes were recorded in 2022, 13% more than expected and most not attributable directly to covid-19, said the charity. The latest figures showed 1461 excess deaths from January to March in 2023, three times the number in the same period in 2022. Diabetes UK warned, “The ongoing disruption to routine care may be leading to excess mortality in people with diabetes.” (Full story doi:10.1136/bmj.p1070)