Quality of care in diabetic patients attending routine primary care clinics compared with those attending GP specialist clinics

Aim To determine the impact on clinical outcomes of specialist diabetes clinics compared with routine primary care clinics. Methods Observational study measuring clinical performance (process/outcome measures) in the primary care sector. A cohort of patients attending specialist diabetes clinics was compared with a control cohort of patients attending routine primary care clinics. Results Patients seen in specialist diabetes clinics had a significantly higher HbA1c than patients in routine primary care clinics (mean difference 0.58%; P