%0 Journal Article
%T Scottish survey of diabetes services for minority ethnic groups
%A Hamid R Baradaran
%A Joan Jamieson
%A Rafik Gardee
%A Robin P Knill-Jones
%J BMC Health Services Research
%D 2006
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1472-6963-6-130
%X We conducted this cross-sectional study in all health boards in Scotland. A questionnaire was designed based on expert comments. It was completed by Local Health Care Cooperatives (LHCC) managers, chairs, diabetes specialist nurses and public health practitioners.57 of questionnaires were returned (response rate = 69.5%). Of these LHCCs, 71% responded that diabetes was part of their LHCC plan. However 69% answered that ethnic group was not recorded by community services and GPs, and 80% of LHCCs did not monitor trends of complications of diabetes by ethnic group.Improvement is needed in quality, completeness, and availability of minority ethnic group data for diabetes at a national level, particularly if NHS Primary Care Organisations are to be responsible for providing diabetes care as laid out in the Scottish Diabetes Framework.The prevalence of diabetes worldwide varies from approximately 2 to 50% within different ethnic groups [1,2]. In the UK, all ethnic minority groups have higher rates of diabetes than the general population. Studies in the United Kingdom have shown diabetes prevalence rates of 11¨C20% in Asian Indians, 15% in Afro-Caribbeans and 1¨C5% in White Caucasians. Generally type 2 diabetes is up to four times more common in British South Asians than in the indigenous White population [3-11]. During the past decades the UK has become an increasingly multicultural society with the settlement of immigrants and refugees together with their families from the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe. For instance, minority ethnic groups comprise 2% (101,677 residents) of the total population in Scotland. Table 1 describes the Scottish population by NHS Board based on the 2001 Census. One policy of the Scottish Executive Health Department (SEHD) aims to offer equal access to medical care for all residents, regardless of social class or ethnicity [12]. The NHS in Scotland consists of 15 Health Boards. Each Board has a Primary Care Trust (PCT) and smaller
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