Pharmacists should team up with commissioners to target younger diabetic patients, a clinical expert has said.

Younger diabetics were an "important area" for pharmacists to focus on, said Huddersfield University senior pharmacy practice lecturer Mahendra Patel, in response to NHS figures that showed patients under 40 received fewer vital checks than other age groups.

The number of under-40s with diabetes was growing and pharmacists needed to think of ways to reach this group, who "lived busy lives", said Dr Patel, chair of the South Asian Health Foundation, which aims to educate people at high risk of diabetes

Figures released by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) yesterday (October 2) revealed that patients aged 10-40 hit fewer treatment targets for glucose control, blood pressure and serum cholesterol than other age groups.

HSCIC's findings showed that "something needs to be done" to "dramatically" improve care to these patients, said Dr Patel, who called for commissioned diabetes services to be tailored towards younger groups.

In HSCIC's audit carried out with charity Diabetes UK, of more than 130,000 diabetics under 40 only 29 per cent with type 1 and 46 per cent with type 2 diabetes had received eight of Nice's nine recommended checks.

In comparison, 67 per cent of more than 470,000 diabetes patients in their seventies had received eight of the nine checks, which also include BMI, smoking, eye screening and foot and kidney surveillance. Of more than 500,000 patients in their sixties 65 per cent had reached this target, HSCIC said.

Dr Bob Young, clinical lead for the audit, warned that there was "age inequality" in the treatment of diabetics, with younger people receiving "substantially worse routine care". These patients were most at risk of developing complications that affected their health and could ultimately kill them, he said.

Dr Young echoed Dr Patel's call for commissioners, diabetes leads and GP specialist providers to consider "improvements to their systems for delivering effective care" to this patient group.

The audit also found regional variation for diabetes treatment across the country, with the proportion of patients receiving eight recommended checks ranging between 30 per cent and 78 per cent in different clinical commissioning groups.

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