A diabetes consultation is not a diagnosis, it is an audit of what has happened since the last one. Which is why the single biggest factor in whether the visit is useful is what is in the file you bring and what is in your memory when the doctor asks what you have actually been taking.

Bring these, in one bag

The medicine strips you are taking now — the actual packets, not a list written from memory. Half of the useful work in a diabetes review is discovering which tablets have been finished early, skipped on travelling days, or stopped because of a suspected side effect nobody was told about.
The home glucose readings, if you test at home. Dates and the time of day matter more than the average, and a reading taken deliberately after the meal you suspect is a problem is worth more than a fasting number.
The previous laboratory reports, especially the last HbA1c, creatinine and urine albumin, lipid profile and thyroid results, with their dates.
The referral or discharge summary from any other doctor or hospital who has treated the same problem.
A note of the symptoms you have had — thirst, nocturnal urination, blurred vision, tingling in the feet, a wound that took its time, hypos with no warning.

What the review looks at

HbA1c is the anchor: a blood test that reflects the average sugar over roughly the last three months, which is why it is repeated at intervals rather than daily, and why a single home reading does not contradict it. Around that, the review covers the things diabetes damages quietly — kidney function through creatinine and a urine albumin test, blood pressure, lipids, feet examined with a sensory check, weight, and the injection or tablet technique if you use one. Eyes are part of diabetes care as well; ask the desk where a retinal examination is available, and get the referral, because a normal HbA1c does not protect the retina by itself.

Bring a relative or a friend if you want help remembering the plan. The evidence from every clinic is that people hear less of a consultation than they think they did, especially the first one after a medicine change.

Two questions to ask before you leave the room

“What is my own target, and what is the number that tells you we got there?” Your range is set by your age, other illnesses and history — not by a figure on a website, including this one.
“If I feel hypo again, what exactly do I do, and when do I call you?” Ask it before you need it, and ask what to do about driving.
“Which of these tests are being done today, and when will you want to see the reports?” A review with tests ordered but no plan to read them is a review that did not happen.
“What changes if I stop losing weight / if I get an infection / if I am travelling for work?”

When it is not a review, it is a same-day problem

Vomiting with diabetes and unable to keep fluids down; breathlessness with an odd fruity smell on the breath; confusion, drowsiness or a fit; a blood sugar repeatedly very high with ketones if you can test; a foot that has gone red, swollen, hot or discharged, or a wound with fever; chest pain; sudden weakness or slurred speech. Any of these: casualty, not the next appointment — and in a person with diabetes, a foot with fever is an emergency even when the person feels otherwise well.

Sick-day rules are worth asking for in writing before the next festival, wedding or flu season, when appetite and medicines both slip. The dose of insulin someone on insulin should never simply skip without a plan, and the desk will tell you who to call.

Published by R.R. Healthcare as general patient information. It is not advice about your own condition, and it cannot replace being examined — see the medical disclaimer. To be seen: book a consultation or contact the hospital.