DIABETES patients in our hospitals should be allowed to self-medicate rather than have nurses do it for them, according to a new pilot study in Worcestershire.

About 22,000 people have been diagnosed with diabetes in Worcestershire and at any one time about 17 per cent of the hospital population will have diabetes, with the numbers increasing every year.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester, is one of the first trusts in the UK to use the guidelines laid out in Thinkglucose, an NHS Institute programme designed to provide better care for in-patients.

The audit, which was conducted between September and December, involved looking at the care of 20 patients with diabetes across four wards at Worcestershire Royal and the Alexandra Hospital, Redditch.

Health chiefs in Worcestershire hope the guidelines laid out in Thinkglucose will help nurses and medical staff make the right decision about when to allow patients to self-medicate and when to refer them to the diabetes team, such as when they have more serious complications and are unable to manage their condition on their own.

Emma Innes, a diabetes specialist nurse at the Royal, who has been co-ordinating work to improve the service for patients, said: “Staff need to be able to spot the warning signs and the importance of good blood glucose control. We will know if it is working if we get a reduction in drug errors. If patients are self-medicating, there’s less risk for the nursing staff of making drug errors.

This is putting the control back with the patients. Patients with diabetes often know more about how to manage their condition than the staff caring for them on the wards.”

Confusion can arise because of the wide range of drugs used to treat diabetics, some of which have different effects but very similar names, she said.

The measures could save Worcestershire about £1 million per year by reducing the length of stay for diabetes patients, freeing up hospital beds for other patients.

Hospital patients with diabetes tend to spend longer in hospital than other patients because their bodies take longer to heal from sores or wounds.

In extreme cases, diabetes can lead to nerve damage and even amputation.

But it is argued that correct management of their conditon early through educating staff can prevent them needing to be admitted in the first place in some cases and help them be discharged safely sooner.

Worcestershire was one of four pilot schemes across the country, along with Bristol, Leicester and King’s Lynn.