Nearly half of the patients admitted to Leicester's hospitals with diabetes were the victims of medication mistakes, according to a snapshot survey.
A one-day audit of 213 diabetes patients in the city's hospitals has been published by NHS Diabetes and the charity Diabetes UK,
It shows 47.3 per cent of the patients suffered at least one medication error – such as being given an incorrect dosage.
The audit – carried out in November – looked at 12,000 inpatients nationally and found 37.1 per cent of them had suffered medication mistakes.
Barbara Young, chief executive of Diabetes UK, has called for improvements to hospital care.
She said: "This unacceptable standard of care needs urgent redress. Diabetes is one of the most common long-term conditions doctors face on a day-to-day basis, so it is extremely worrying to learn of such high numbers of medication errors."
A spokesman for University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust said the report highlighted areas of weakness but work is already under way to improve care for inpatients.
A "think glucose" staff training programme on managing diabetes was brought in yesterday and tailored to meet the needs of individual wards.
A national learning programme on the safe use of insulin has also been developed with NHS Diabetes.
The spokesman said: "This work has already started and is mandatory training for all staff with responsibility for giving insulin to patients.
"This will help limit prescribing errors on our wards."
The audit figures show patients in Leicester had 48 minutes with a diabetes inpatient specialist nurse – compared to a national average of 26 minutes. However, access to a diabetic consultant and podiatrist was minimal.
Foot care is important for diabetic patients as problems are a known complication of the disease.
Ken Jones, a committee member of the Leicestershire branch of Diabetes UK, said: "People with diabetes and being treated for diabetes are well cared for in Leicester's hospitals. The problem arises when they go in for something else. I know a number of people who have had poor experiences.
"I have had a couple of stays in hospitals and have always been assertive about keeping control of my own medication. Not everyone is as confident or able to do this."
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