National survey of diabetes care in general practice.
This survey was mounted to assess the extent and organisation of diabetes care in general practice in Ireland. It was a postal questionnaire surveying 25% of general practitioners, The response being 396 (70%). 355 (92%) report providing most care to a mean 65% of their type 2 patients, and 243 (64%) provide most care to 38% of their type 1 patients. The extent of structured care is less frequent with 43% maintaining a diabetes register, and 51% using a recall system. Access to multidisciplinary diabetes expertise in the community is low, particularly for dietetics (50%) and diabetes specialist nursing (7%). Rural doctors are significantly more likely to report providing care to patients with type 1 and 2 diabetes. Irish general practitioners report providing a substantial amount of care, particularly for patients with type 2 diabetes, but this is largely unstructured. Significant investment is needed to ensure uniformly structured care in this setting.
O'Sullivan
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Irish Task Group, Irish College of General Practitioners, Smith SM, Dept of Public Health and Primary Care, Trinity College, Dublin. tonyosu@eircom.net
D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000628:therapy*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000628:therapy*; D005194:Family Practice / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D007494:Ireland; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019035:Rural Health Services; D019036:Suburban Health Services; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D019037:Urban Health Services