National survey of diabetes care in general practice.

This survey was mounted to assess the extent and organisation of diabetes care in general practice in Ireland. It was a postal questionnaire surveying 25% of general practitioners, The response being 396 (70%). 355 (92%) report providing most care to a mean 65% of their type 2 patients, and 243 (64%) provide most care to 38% of their type 1 patients. The extent of structured care is less frequent with 43% maintaining a diabetes register, and 51% using a recall system. Access to multidisciplinary diabetes expertise in the community is low, particularly for dietetics (50%) and diabetes specialist nursing (7%). Rural doctors are significantly more likely to report providing care to patients with type 1 and 2 diabetes. Irish general practitioners report providing a substantial amount of care, particularly for patients with type 2 diabetes, but this is largely unstructured. Significant investment is needed to ensure uniformly structured care in this setting.