Diabetics are offered £250 course to help them manage disease

Diabetes is one of the fastest-growing diseases in the UK, with rates of Type 2 diabetes expected to rise by 98 per cent by 2050 as obesity also increases.

Now patients can take a course at a cost of about 250 to increase their knowledge of the condition and reduce the risk of serious complications, such as blindness and amputations.

The programme, developed by Scottish company Health Qualifications, is also aimed at obese and overweight patients at risk of diabetes. Those behind the course believe they could be stopped from developing the condition through following the advice offered.

Experts said there were gaps in the education offered to patients by the NHS when they were diagnosed, but questioned whether many people would be willing to put in the time and money to complete a course.

About 220,000 people in Scotland have diabetes, but many more are undiagnosed.

The new distance-learning course, launching this week, covers areas such as the symptoms of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, risk factors, treatment and the health complications if the condition is not properly managed.

After completing the course, students are awarded a Certificate in Diabetes Awareness.

Ian McAllister, managing director of Health Qualifications, said with rates of diabetes set to rise, educating patients was vital.

"In terms of the NHS, people may only get a certain amount of time with a diabetic nurse. The whole point of the programme is to help people self-manage the condition, which is what the NHS wants anyway. But to do that they need proper education."

Mr McAllister said courses were available through the NHS for people newly diagnosed with diabetes, but patients might need more information.

He said better education could mean reduced costs from complications, such as amputations.

He said the course was also aimed at people at risk of diabetes, due to being overweight, who could potentially avoid it by following the advice in the course.

Stephen Fyfe, from Diabetes UK Scotland, said there were often waiting lists for people wanting to access NHS-run courses.

If proper education was available uniformly across health boards, there would not be a need for people to have to pay for courses, he said.

Professor Sandra MacRury, professor of clinical diabetes at the UHI Millennium Institute in Inverness, said the new course was quite involved and it was hard to imagine many patients sitting down to complete it.

"The kind of education that people are interested in is coming to small groups to learn about their type of diabetes, or one-to-one education with healthcare professionals, but I cannot see them doing this type of course," she said.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that people with diabetes get the best possible care.

"NHS boards provide a range of education for people with diabetes, including dietetic support and structured education."

Parents' steep learning curve

AS THE parents of a diabetic child, Collette and Graeme Foord faced a very steep learning curve.

After Gavin was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes just before his seventh birthday, the couple from Giffnock, East Renfrewshire, were bombarded with information which they had to absorb very quickly.

Now 11, Gavin must test his blood five times a day and his parents are always on the look-out for anything which could be a sign that his diabetes needs attention.

Mrs Foord advocates more education for patients, families and also medical staff.

"We got information from the diabetes doctor and the nurses and the dietician at the hospital," Mrs Foord said. "But we were having to learn all this within days."

She believes a longer course in diabetes awareness could benefit some patients and their families.

"But I also think that there are a lot of professionals out there, especially nurses, who could benefit from more information," she said.

"There are doctors and nurses out there who are totally ignorant of diabetes. You feel that they should know."