‘Sustained improvements’ in diabetes primary care programme

The study was conducted by the ESPRIT (Evidence to Support Prevention, Implementation and Translation) research group led by Professor Patricia Kearney in the School of Public Health UCC , in collaboration with the HSE Midland Structured Diabetes Care programme.

Ms Fiona Riordan, first author on the paper said, “Our study demonstrates the sustainability and feasibility of delivering a structured diabetes care programme in primary care, if it is well supported and organised.

“The Midland programme is the longest running diabetes care programme in Ireland and it has achieved significant improvements in terms of the care processes delivered to patients over time

“While the overall findings are encouraging, they also suggest there may be limits to what can be achieved by structured care programmes, particularly when they operate within the resource constraints of primary care and the wider health system,” added Ms Riordan.

“We need to support these programmes to engage in continuous quality improvement and seek to better understand general practitioner management decisions, patient attendance, adherence and self-management. Understanding and addressing these areas may deliver further improvements in the delivery of these programmes.”

The Midland programme, is based in four counties (Longford, Westmeath, Laois and Offaly),.