Following two unsuccessful attempts to appoint a consultant diabetologist at West Cornwall Hospital it has been necessary to make changes to outpatient services for patients with diabetes in the area.

Cornwall currently has just two specialist diabetes consultants covering the population served by the Trust and it would be impossible for them to sustain the current numbers of outpatient clinics.

For this reason, clinics in Camborne-Redruth (weekly), Hayle and Helston (once a month), and the Isles of Scilly (bi-monthly) will be suspended from the end of June and patients will be asked to attend clinics in Penzance, Falmouth or Truro.

The weekly clinic at West Cornwall Hospital will continue and be expanded with a larger team of supporting professionals, including additional doctors, a specialist nurse, dietitian and podiatrist, enabling more patients to be seen at that session.

Clinics held in Truro, Bodmin, St Austell, Falmouth, and Newquay will also remain as normal, maintaining as much equity as possible in access to clinics across the county.

The incidence of diabetes has been growing considerably over recent years and around three per cent of the population are diagnosed, with about another one per cent having diabetes but not yet knowing it.

Some of the biggest rises are being seen in the numbers of young people with diabetes and the continuing rise in obesity within the population is also a significant contributor. The incidence of Type 1 diabetes in Cornwall has tripled in the past decade and there is now an emergence of Type 2 diabetes in children aged ten years and above.

The difficulty in appointing a new consultant reflects the national shortage of specialists in this field with few seeking the many vacant posts across the country.

So that the current level of service for medical inpatients can be maintained, it has been possible to appoint an additional consultant physician at West Cornwall Hospital.

This doctor has a special interest in respiratory medicine and provides the opportunity for a much-needed expansion of this speciality in the county.