Wayne Fogg, aged 53, said he was diagnosed in 2019 when his GP called him after a blood test and told him he was "basically ... about to drop dead".

"It sounds silly, but it's a really, really serious life-threatening disease. Everyone goes, 'Oh, you just eat too much sugar.' But it's not that at all," he said.

Last year, the Murrumbidgee had the second-highest rate in NSW of hospital admissions related to type 2 diabetes, a progressive disease which occurs when the pancreas is not producing enough insulin, or when the insulin it produces is not working effectively.

Mr Fogg, who lives in Murringo, has to drive 50 kilometres for an appointment with his GP in Boorowa and says rural patients are disadvantaged by lengthy travel times and limited services.

"Out of the six [diabetic] people I know, four of them can't look after themselves. They can't get their diabetes under control," he said.

"Because the people who are supposed to be looking after them or treating them, aren't doing that."

Mr Fogg is now managing his condition well and considers himself fortunate to have a good GP and the support of Murrumbidgee Local Health District diabetes nurse practitioner Liz Obersteller, whom he credits with saving his life.

"You will not find a more knowledgeable and caring person. She really does care," Mr Fogg said.

Mrs Obersteller, a diabetes educator with more than 20 years' experience, supports people living with the disease to self-manage their care in smaller Murrumbidgee communities.

"When we talk to people, there probably are some difficulties in them getting access to timely support," she said.

"Access to face-to-face endocrinology and specialists in this area is limited and does take a significant wait to get in to see them.

"In terms of access to newer medications, there definitely has been a lag and a delay in people receiving these types of medications."

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One of the region's few endocrinologists Mary Freeman said she would like to see more diabetes educators employed in the Murrumbidgee, to support rural GPs to manage their patient loads.

"GPs need information to stay up to date because GPs see everything. And diabetes ... is but one aspect of what they do," Dr Freeman said.

"Generally, it's a case of investing in those educational resources. It doesn't have to be done by a specialist, though it doesn't have to just be done by a diabetes educator."

A recent Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute study of 1.2 million Australians with type 2 diabetes found people in remote areas were 62 per cent less likely to receive the newest diabetes medication in the first two years of its being sold in Australia.

Lead researcher Jedidiah Morton said newer diabetes medications were less likely to cause hypoglycemia, a potentially dangerous condition where a person's blood sugar levels drop too low.

"I think the most important thing from this study is that your care for any disease shouldn't depend on where you live," Mr Morton said.

"What we've found is that care for diabetes does depend on where you live and this is obviously a problem."

The Murrumbidgee Local Health District covers inner regional and outer regional areas, with one remote area.