Health: Diabetes

Debate between Lord St John of Bletso and Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

Tuesday 18th October 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen]

The Government are absolutely committed to preventing more amputations, but we believe very strongly that money should go towards multidisciplinary teams. These have been seen to be a huge success in various initiatives taken by the likes of King’s College Hospital in Sheffield, where multidisciplinary teams were put together. It has been shown that, in Sheffield for instance, there was a 45% reduction in the number of amputees over three years, along with significant financial savings and a 90% patient satisfaction rating. This is the way to go.

[Lord St John of Bletso (CB)]

My Lords, given the high prevalence of type 2 diabetes and the associated inactive lifestyle of patients, what measures can be taken to promote more exercise of these patients?

[Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen]

The noble Lord is absolutely right: a key issue in dealing with diabetes is education. We have put together several packages. For instance, Public Health England, NHS England and Diabetes UK are working together on Healthier You, which seeks to educate people who might have type 2 diabetes. We are also looking at how we can get to these people in different ways, such as web-based approaches, apps and joined-up thinking. It is sometimes difficult for people to get to clinics, and it might be easier for them to look at digital or the web.