The ground floor of a former GP practice in Royal Earlswood Park is being transformed into a new centre for diabetes care in east Surrey and West Sussex.
The team of expert clinicians from East Surrey Hospital are opening the doors at their new clinic on February 4th and will be offering a growing number of specialist clinics.
The spacious new clinic will allow the three consultants and four specialist nurses to offer separate clinics for people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, a young adults’ clinic and a fourth one for people using insulin pumps.
The team also plan to run group education lessons to give people the confidence to manage their diabetes and improve their health and quality of life.
Susan Stockley is the lead diabetes specialist nurse for Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs the hospital. She said: “The whole team are really excited about moving out into the community and closer to our patients.
“Diabetes is a lifelong condition; we know how to treat it and one of the key elements to this is education. Our new home gives us the space to run more group education sessions and give people the confidence to manage their diabetes. The education groups have an added benefit of bringing people together with similar experiences and these often grow into support networks.”
The staff are holding an open morning at The Earlswood Centre on March 18 from 10am – 1:30pm. Patients, GPs and practice nurses are all invited to come along, meet the team and have a tour of the new facilities.
Over 2.4 million people have diabetes in the UK and this number is expected to rise rapidly over the next 20 years. It occurs when the level of your sugar (glucose) in the blood becomes higher than normal. There are two main types of diabetes – Type 1 and Type 2.
Type 1 diabetes develops when the insulin-producing cells in the body have been destroyed and the body is unable to produce any insulin. It can develop at any age but usually before the age of 40 and is the most common type of diabetes in children. Type 1 diabetes is treated by daily insulin injections, a healthy diet and regular exercise.
Type 2 diabetes usually appears in people over the age of 40 and is becoming increasingly common in young adults and children. It can also be treated by diet and exercise and then medication if necessary.
