Audit of referrals for dietary advice from the diabetes clinic at Bedford Hospital

An audit of people with diabetes mellitus (DM) who were referred for dietary advice from the diabetes outpatient clinic at Bedford Hospital, was made for a four‐week period against local standards. These were set at 100% of newly diagnosed DM patients to receive advice from a dietitian within a year of diagnosis, and annually thereafter.

During the audited period 183 patients were seen in the diabetes outpatient clinic by a consultant in diabetes or one of his team. Of these, 66% (121 patients) had seen a dietitian within one year of diagnosis of DM; 19% (35 patients) had been seen for a dietetic update in the last 18 months. A proportion of patients had never seen a state registered dietitian.