by Colin Kenny, GP, Dromore
There is a growing recognition that primary care provides an important foundation for the management of high-quality diabetes care. This study analysed the experiences of 906,578 responders to the 2012 English General Practice Patient Survey, including 85,760 with self-reported diabetes. Three domains of primary care were specifically analysed – access, continuity and communication.
People with diabetes were significantly more likely to report better experience than people without diabetes on six out of seven primary care items. Those with diabetes and additional comorbid long-term conditions did, however, report worse experiences, particularly for access to primary care appointments. An important lesson from this study is that improvements in primary care are needed when communicating with people with diabetes who have multiple comorbidities, in order to ensure better access to appointments.
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