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Debate between Adrian Sanders and Paul Burstow

Tuesday 22nd July 2014 Westminster Hall

[Mr Adrian Sanders (in the Chair)]

Order. It is for the Member who secured the debate to give way.

[Paul Burstow]

I will give way, but I need to stress to the hon. Gentleman that this is a half-hour debate and I need to make quite a few points myself.

Diabetes

Debate between Adrian Sanders and Paul Burstow

Wednesday 8th September 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Burstow]

I will both consider it and hopefully have the opportunity to come back in next week’s debate and say a little more about it.

[Mr Sanders]

The right hon. Member for Knowsley (Mr Howarth) makes a very important point. There is also the role of pharmacists, who need to be aware of the symptoms that people might describe to them. There are also the opticians and chiropodists. Any number of health professional could be involved in a preventive campaign.

[Mr Burstow]

My hon. Friend is right, and I certainly pay tribute to him for his work as chair of the all-party group on diabetes. He has been a powerful advocate on these issues for many years. I applaud what he has done, and he is right—pharmacists and other health care professionals are part of what we need to do in order better to equip the whole service for detecting and intervening.

I was told that the right hon. Member for Leicester East was going to ask about extending the age range. That is an important point that needs to be discussed. At the moment, NHS Health Check starts at 40 and calls people every five years. The best clinical and most cost-effective case was made for doing it at that age. However, there is nothing to prevent primary care trusts from commissioning services that widen the age range. They should be considering that, particularly in areas with more susceptible populations, and clearly Leicester is one of those cases.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Adrian Sanders and Paul Burstow

Tuesday 7th September 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Burstow]

The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to draw our attention to the rising rate of diabetes in our country. When it comes to diabetes in children, we have to bear in mind that the diagnosis for type 1 diabetes—which affects about 23,000 children in this country—is a genetically predisposed condition that cannot easily be prevented. We need to do more about type 2 diabetes, however, by tackling the obesity problems in this country. We need to deliver physical and healthy eating programmes through schools and other partners, and those things are much better done in the context of the local authorities, which will now have a new responsibility for public health that the last Government never gave them.

[Mr Adrian Sanders (Torbay) (LD)]

Information and education are also important for people with the condition of diabetes, to help them to get the maximum benefit from their prescribed course of treatment. May I urge the Minister to make an assessment of the improvements to health that education and information can contribute?

[Mr Burstow]

My hon. Friend makes a good point about the value of information in empowering patients, and about the value of education. That is why we want to do more with NHS information prescriptions, which is an important tool, and to ensure that the care planning process that delivers tailored care plans also includes structured education. There is no doubt that providing education really does make a difference to the outcomes for people with diabetes.