SHORTAGES of district nurses in the affluent East Renfrewshire area have been blamed for a string of errors involving the life-saving drug insulin.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde confirmed that a significant clinical review is underway following one incident involving an insulin injection.

The board said there had been four other incidents involving the scheduling on home visits to diabetic patients.

Insulin helps to keep blood sugar levels from going too high, which can be life-threatening.

A health source blamed “bad record keeping” due to staff shortages and time-pressured nurses juggling a heavy case-load with patient admin.

A source told the Evening Times that bank staff were also being sent out without tablet computers, which are used to record patient notes.

It is understood that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is in the process of recruiting two extra nurses for the region. A source said: “They are so short staffed they are relying on bank nurses.

“Bank nurses are being sent out without Ipads and phones.

“There have been five errors with insulin in the past six months. It’s just bad record keeping.

“Employers were due to carry out an independant review on staffing in September but that hasn’t happened yet.”

The charity Diabetes UK has warned that as the number of older people continues to rise, increasing numbers will need help to manage their diabetes at home.

This means that community nurses are likely to have a growing caseload of people who require support to manage their diabetes, including being given insulin injections. 

A spokesperson from East Renfrewshire HSCP said: “District nurses play a vital role and we are increasing the team by employing two additional nurses and two health care support workers. We are also identifying specific areas where we will invest in additional training programmes.

“We can confirm that there has been one error relating directly to insulin administration. No patient was harmed as a result but they have been made aware of what happened. The incident is the subject to an internal Significant Clinical Incident review along with four reported incidences relating to the scheduling of home visits to our diabetic patients.

“All staff within the district nursing services are supplied with tablets and work mobiles and there is no shortage relating to these.”