Diabetes - number of consultations

The chart below shows the estimated numbers of consultations in Scotland for diabetes for the four financial years 2003/04 to 2006/07, by staff discipline. Figures are standardised by age, sex and deprivation to account for any differences in these characteristics between the PTI sample population and the Scottish practice population.  These figures and comparable figures for 2003/04 to 2005/06 are also provided in tabular format in an Excel document  (21KB).  From PTI it is often not possible to distinguish between patients consulting for either type I or type II diabetes, and therefore the figures published here refer to both types of the condition.

The chart shows that the estimated number of contacts for diabetes has increased steadily over the last four years, mainly due to the increasing number of consultations with a practice nurse. A large proportion of the patient contacts is with a nurse rather than a GP, and apart from practice nurses, data from the years 2003/04 to 2005/06 suggests that district nurses also have a major share in caring for diabetic patients.

The Scottish Public Health Observatory (ScotPHO) website provides more information on diabetes from a number of sources, among these the annual Scottish Diabetes Survey. This website contains link to the most recent survey carried out in 2006; see  http://www.scotpho.org.uk/home/Healthwell-beinganddisease/Diabetes/diabetes_keypoints.asp. 

Diabetes¹ - estimated number of consultations in Scotland in the financial years 2003/04 to 2006/07 ^{2, 3} 
by staff discipline

* Health visitor and district nurse data are not available for the financial year 2006/07.
¹ Based on ISD's Read Code Grouping (RCG) 'Diabetes'.
² Based on 45, 44, 44 and 45 PTI practices that submitted complete data for the years ending 31 March 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007, respectively. Figures are standardised by age, gender and deprivation.
³ Population source: Community Health Index (CHI) record, as at 30 September 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006.

Note: Following a substantial review of PTI data and subsequent revisions to the methodology for all PTI analyses, direct comparisons with figures produced prior to 27th March 2007 are not valid.  See the Note of Revisions for further information.

Source: Practice Team Information (PTI), ISD Scotland (last updated 25 March 2008)

Related information - Diabetes
Excel table giving patient and contact estimates by age and gender for 2003/04 to 2006/07  (46KB)
Diabetes - number of patients (chart)