ALB and diabetes mellitus: In 2008, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), serving the National Health Service (NHS) in England and Wales, recommended nine essential ‘health checks’ or so-called ‘care processes’ that define high-quality diabetes care.1 NICE recommended that people with diabetes should have at least annual checks of weight, blood pressure, smoking status, haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), cholesterol, creatinine, urinary albumin, retinopathy and feet.