Information Key Part of Diabetes Management

Better information about diabetes and how to prevent complications of the disease was a key part of learning how to manage it better, Health Minister Bill English said today.

"Diabetes has a huge impact on the country. Nationwide there are an estimated 82,000 people with diagnosed diabetes and the costs of hospital care from diabetes are put at $95 million.

"The Otago Diabetes Team, working with others in the field from the Auckland region, is leading the way in finding better ways of managing the disease.

"Teamwork and good information are the keys. This might sound simple, but as the people involved in this project will testify, getting people from different parts of the health sector working together is particularly hard to do. But it can make an enormous difference to how effectively a disease like diabetes can be managed," said Mr English, who visited the Dunedin project centre today.

Mr English said all countries faced remarkably similar problems in treating the disease. These were:

- poor collaboration between GPs and specialists
- variable care and management of people with diabetes in the community
- the mistaken view that diabetes was a 'mild' disease with few complications
- poor patient education

"Unfortunately, New Zealand is no different. While everyone agrees that good diabetes management requires a team approach, the difficulty lies in the delivery of a cost-effective, high quality health care service for diabetes patients.

"The Otago Diabetes Team combines specialists, gps, practice nurses, dietitians, a Maori community health workers and others to improve diabetes management and give advice on the best approach. At the heart of the project is a need for good information. This project has been trialing a way of delivering that information.

"This is the way forward for healthcare delivery in New Zealand," said Mr English.

Part of the project has been funded by the Government's health information initiatives fund. This allowed a database to be set up along with the development of clinical guidelines based on 'best practice' for the treatment and management of diabetes.

The first phase of developing the diabetes database to monitor and evaluate the project was almost complete. The outcome of the project was expected to be earlier detection and appropriate management of diabetes complications.

Ends

Note: Mr English will be visiting Diabetes Otago, 97 Frederick St, at 2.30pm.