Alarm as the number of diabetics in West Berks rises

According to figures released this week by Diabetes UK, 6.6 per cent of people in the area are now thought to have the condition, and the charity has warned that this proportion is expected to rise further over the next few years.
It is projected that 7.2 per cent of people in West Berkshire will have diabetes by 2020, a rise that is expected to comprise mainly of new cases of type 2 diabetes, which already accounts for about 90 per cent of diabetes cases nationally.
Diabetes UK’s regional manager for the South East, Jill Steaton, said: “It is alarming that the number of people with diabetes in West Berkshire has gone up by 221 in a single year and addressing this situation needs to be one of the top health priorities in the area.
“A vital first step towards this is to ensure both that people realise how serious it is and also that they understand their own personal risk so that if they are at high risk they can make the lifestyle changes that can help prevent it.”
In a bid to tackle the issue, the Newbury and District Clinical Commissioning Group, which oversees the healthcare of people in West Berkshire, has hired a new consultant physician in diabetes/endocrinology, Ian Gallen (pictured).
Dr Gallen took up the post on October 1 and aims to integrate acute and community care by spending more than two thirds of his time in the community and the remaining one third working at the Royal Berkshire Hospital as a Community Diabetologist.
When it was officially launched earlier in the year, the CCG said that one of its top priorities would be to further improve the services offered to people with diabetes.
Dr Gallen said: “Diabetes is a chronic condition often associated with shortened life.
“With better management, complications are largely avoidable. My first task is to establish a structured care plan so that efforts are streamlined and not duplicated.”
Primary care diabetes lead for the CCG, Richard Croft, said that the quality of care greatly depends on clinicians’ and patients’ knowledge.
Dr Croft added: “Therefore, it is important to have equal levels of knowledge of diabetes and insulin management among clinicians, and access to prompt specialist advice on diabetes management.”