RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access n D B

Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleBackground There are 2.9 million people diagnosed with diabetes and an estimated 850 000 undiagnosed cases in the UK. The Association of Public Health Observatories model estimates that by 2025 there may be up to 5 million people with diabetes in the UK (4.19 million people in England, 371,000 people in Scotland, 288,000 people in Wales and although this model did not include Northern Ireland estimates for diagnosed and undiagnosed dia-betes in the province for 2010 is 109,000 [unpublished data]) [1]. Currently, 10–20 % of all hospital inpatients in the UK have a diagnosis of diabetes [2]. As a result of the in-creasing prevalence, the percentage of inpatients with diabetes is expected to rise. Therefore, trainee doctors are likely to be responsible for the care of people with diabetes, irrespective of their grade and specialty or the patient’s reasons for admission. Furthermore, specialist * Correspondence