We are calling for access to earlier care for people with diabetes, and a renewed government focus on preventing type 2 diabetes, following a new report that reveals the NHS is in a “critical condition”.
A government-commissioned report has shown that the NHS requires significant reform to reduce the pressure on its services.
Lord Ara Darzi’s Independent Investigation of the National Health Service in England was published on Wednesday following a nine-week review, and a series of failings were identified.
These included “ballooning” NHS waiting times and delays getting emergency treatment and cancer care. A&E was also reported to be in a very bad state, with long waits likely to be causing an additional 14,000 more deaths a year, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine said.
Lord Darzi’s report also notes the increase in people living with type 2 diabetes, as well as long-term conditions such as high blood pressure and respiratory illness, which is placing additional challenges on the NHS.
We published a report earlier this year that called for the government to commit to tackling the alarming rise in cases of type 2 diabetes among people aged under 40 years. There has been a 40% rise in type 2 diabetes diagnoses in younger people between 2016-17 and 2022-23. We need bold action from the government to reverse this rising trend.
Importance of early interventions
Increased government focus on early interventions and preventing type 2 diabetes is essential.
Lord Darzi’s report highlights the power of the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme, which reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes by nearly 40%, but the report also says that not all people with diabetes receive their essential diabetes health checks.
People with diabetes are entitled to a series of essential health checks every year for things like their eyes, feet and kidneys. When identified early, this can prevent complications from becoming very serious. Increased funding on early interventions can help to improve the quality of life for people with diabetes with fewer people developing devastating complications.
In his report, Lord Darzi says:
“For many long-term conditions, there is a strong evidence base about what interventions are required. People with diabetes, for example, should have eight care processes that are well-defined and evidence-based.
“Yet while there has been some progress, there are wide disparities between the most and least deprived communities, with the least deprived 5% more likely to receive all eight than the most deprived.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said that one of the key areas of reform for the NHS will be focusing efforts on prevention over sickness, and we welcome this pledge to reduce the burden on the NHS and reduce the need to treat serious diabetes complications in the future.
Colette Marshall, Chief Executive at Diabetes UK, said:
“Diabetes is serious and it’s abundantly clear from the findings of Lord Darzi’s review that the government must focus more of its health spending on prevention and early interventions. These keep people well and reduce the need for more expensive treatment down the line.
“We firmly believe that significant investment to improve primary and community care would allow people living with diabetes to access the health checks they need and lessen the cost of treating serious diabetes complications such as amputations, heart attacks and sight loss in the future.
“The recent Cost of Diabetes study we commissioned estimated the current bill to the NHS for treating these complications to be £6.2bn annually – and we’ve called for action to be taken to shift the dial from crisis to preventative care to prevent that figure from rising even further.
“Lord Darzi’s report backs up our call for greater spending at a community level where early support and education for people currently living with diabetes can help prevent poor health and additional long-term conditions from developing.
“Already 3.7 million people are living with a diabetes diagnosis in England and an estimated one million more are currently undiagnosed – numbers that are only likely to rise as a further 5.1 million are believed to be living with prediabetes.”
You can read the full Lord Darzi report here.
