Professionals' perceptions of type 2 diabetes in primary care during a service redesign

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to survey primary health care professionals’ perceptions of type 2 diabetes, an evaluation during a service redesign. Management of people with type 2 diabetes has been led by hospital based secondary care. The objective of the service redesign was to transfer the management of the majority of people with type 2 diabetes from secondary care to general practitioner (GP) led, multidisciplinary primary care (comprising the GP, practice nurses, dietitians and podiatrists) delivered closer to the patients. Prior to implementation, all primary health care professionals undertook accredited educational preparation and there was infrastructure development by the creation of new posts and streamlining of IT systems to support the planned change.The study aim was to examine health care professionals’ perspectives of diabetes, its management, the value of clinical guidelines and the impact of practice organisation.A cross-sectional survey design was used. Primary health care pro...