Diabetes is a lifelong condition that causes a person’s blood sugar level to become too high.
There are 2 main types of diabetes:
- type 1 diabetes – where the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the cells that produce insulin
- type 2 diabetes – where the body does not produce enough insulin, or the body’s cells do not react to insulin
Type 2 diabetes is far more common than type 1. In the UK, around 90% of all adults with diabetes have type 2.
During pregnancy, some women have such high levels of blood glucose that their body is unable to produce enough insulin to absorb it all. This is known as gestational diabetes.
More information is available from the NHS
The NHS Type 2 Diabetes Path to Remission Programme
Minuteful Kidney service from Healthy.io.
Having diabetes increases your risk of cardiovascular disease, eye disease and kidney disease. With regular checks you can reduce the risk of any of these complications.
We are therefore excited to inform you of a new service at Latham House Medical Practice that will allow patients with diabetes to test their kidney function from home.
As you know, as part of your diabetes annual review, you should have a simple urine test. This test looks at your urinary albumin:creatinine ratio (ACR). The ACR test checks your kidney function by looking for particles of protein in your urine called albumin. If there is albumin in your urine, this means you are at increased risk of kidney disease and heart disease. If this is picked up at an early stage, you can be put on medication that will reduce your risk of any complications.
To help you perform this test, we are working with a company called Healthy.io, who provide a Minuteful Kidney urine test kit and an accompanying free-to-download app that allows people to do the test at home. The test is really easy to do and only requires a smartphone and a kit that will be sent to your home.
Healthy.io will be contacting patients in the next few weeks with more information.
To opt out of this service:
To opt-out of this service, please let us know via one of the following methods:
- If you have online access, log in to your SystmOnline account and complete the Minuteful Kidney Service opt-out questionnaire
- Send us an email with your full name, NHS number and date of
birth to [email protected] using the subject “Minuteful Kidney Service” and confirming that you wish to opt-out - If you received an invitation to this service via SMS text – follow the instructions to reply ‘Opt Out’
- If you received an invitation to this service via letter – further ‘Opt out’ instructions were included.
To find out more about kidney disease or the test, Visit here: .
Data Privacy Statement: Minuteful Kidney service for patients with diabetes (and/or other conditions)
The data is being processed for the purpose of delivery of a programme, sponsored by NHS Digital, to monitor urine for indications of chronic kidney disease (CKD) which is recommended to be undertaken annually for patients at risk of chronic kidney disease e.g., patients living with diabetes.
The programme enables patients to test their kidney function from home.
We will share your contact details with Healthy.io to enable them to contact you and send you a test kit. This will help identify patients at risk of kidney disease and help us agree any early interventions that can be put in place for the benefit of your care. Healthy.io will only use your data for the purposes of delivering their service to you. If you do not wish to receive a home test kit from Healthy.io we will continue to manage your care within the Practice. Healthy.io are required to hold data we send them in line with retention periods outlined in the Records Management code of Practice for Health and Social Care. Further information about this is available at: https://lp.healthy.io/minuteful_info/
To find out about all the other checks you need to have in your diabetes review please Click here:
