One stop service for diabetic patients (From Community Newsgroup)

One stop service for diabetic patients

9:00am Monday 24th November 2008

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A GROUND-breaking one-stop clinic for diabetic patients suffering from rheumatic conditions has opened at Wythenshawe Hospital, and is the first of its kind in the country.

Patients with diabetes suffer an array of rheumatic complaints that are wide-ranging in nature and are often complex in management.

Common rheumatic problems in diabetic patients include the limited joint mobility, aching and stiffness in joints, osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Dr Badal Pal, consultant rheumatologist at Wythenshawe Hospital, has started the one-stop clinic specifically for diabetic patients.

He said: “There are a whole range of rheumatic problems that occur more frequently in the diabetic population, but there is a lack of awareness of these associations, so patients with these disorders are under-diagnosed and under-treated.

"There is a direct link between some of these rheumatic problems and diabetic control as well as other diabetic complications such as eye or kidney problems.

“At this new one-stop service, patients will receive a full clinical assessment, basic nerve conduction tests and other investigations which are vitally important in the full assessment of diabetic patients, plus the opportunity to receive joint and soft tissue injections or other treatments.

"This is the ideal scenario for diabetic patients who may have complex and painful conditions and who, up until now, have had to keep returning to various clinics to have their multiple problems addressed.”

Dr Pal is urging GPs and hospital-based clinicians to refer diabetic patients with rheumatic complaints to the special weekly clinic.

Pictured - Dr Badal Pal

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