Renal failure in diabetics in the UK: deficient provision of care in 1985. Joint Working Party on Diabetic Renal Failure of the British Diabetic Association, the Renal Association, and the Research Unit of the Royal College of Physicians.

Two surveys of diabetic renal failure were conducted in 1985. The first survey was designed to identify all diabetic patients having advanced renal failure (serum creatinine greater than 500 mumol/l and/or blood urea greater than 25 mmol/l in six selected health regions of the UK. The study identified 181 such patients indicating that approximately 10 people in every million of the population were affected. It is calculated that there were about 580 patients having diabetic renal failure in the whole of the UK. The majority of the patients (78%) were considered by their physicians to be suitable for renal support treatment. Those who were excluded were considered unsuitable chiefly on account of old age or cardiac problems. In the second survey all 66 renal units in the UK reported the number of diabetic patients starting renal support treatment in 1985. There were 273 patients, suggesting that there may be a shortfall when compared with the number of diabetics likely to need treatment. The Working Party recommends that diabetics who develop renal failure should always be considered for treatment by dialysis or transplantation, and that appropriate resources should be made available for them.