BACKGROUND: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, many outpatient services at public hospitals, including diabetes services, had adopted telehealth appointments for their clinic patients. There was concern that patients' glycaemic control may worsen during the pandemic. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of patients with diabetes managed by telehealth consultations over 5 months at two metropolitan hospitals in Sydney. Their attendance rate, glycaemic control and unplanned admissions to hospital were assessed, and these were compared to the same period 12 months prior, when patients were reviewed via face-to-face appointments. RESULTS: Between April and September 2020, attendance rate for telehealth consultation at the diabetes services at the two hospitals was 88.9% (884 out of 994) in 2020, which was higher than in 2019 (85.2%, 818 out of 959, p = 0.016) when patients attended via face-to-face appointments. Of the 629 patients reviewed via telehealth in 2020 and who had been with our service for over 12 months, glycaemic control was better in 2020 (HbA1c 7.8 +/- 1.4% (62 +/- 15 mmol/mol)) compared to 12 months ago (8.2 +/- 1.7% (66 +/- 19 mmol/mol), p < 0.001). There was no difference in the number of unplanned admissions for this cohort in 2020 (n = 58, 9.2%) compared to 2019 (n = 75, 11.9%, p = 0.100). CONCLUSION: The study showed that for patients with diabetes who received care via telehealth consultations during COVID-19 lockdown, their glycaemic control was slightly better and unplanned admission rates was not higher compared to the pre-COVID-19 period. Telehealth consultation offers an important care delivery option in the management of patients with diabetes under the circumstances. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.