Healthcare professionals working in the field of diabetes are being asked to encourage their patients to fill out a new survey, which aims to find out more about people’s experiences when it comes to accessing and using diabetes services in Ireland.

The anonymous online survey has been developed by the national charity, Diabetes Ireland. It aims to discover more about the current availability and accessibility of diabetes care within both the primary and secondary care setting.

It also aims to check whether people with diabetes are availing of diabetes-related services, including screening services.

“We often hear from members of the diabetes community that access to diabetes health services is not the same in different parts of Ireland. We also hear that the waiting lists for diabetes education, diabetes technology or appointments with specialists, such as podiatrists, dietitians and psychologists,  are long and sometimes these services are not available at all,” the charity explained.

The survey is being conducted in cooperation with the Royal College Of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) and should only take 10-15 minutes to complete.

It will run for three weeks and Diabetes Ireland is hoping to officially launch a report into its findings at its DICE Healthcare Professional Conference on May 17 in Croke Park, Dublin.

The survey can be accessed here.