Type 1 Diabetes (Young People)

Alan Campbell Excerpts

Wednesday 30th April 2014 Westminster Hall

[Mr Alan Campbell (Tynemouth) (Lab)]

As ever, Mr Havard, it is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship. I am grateful to my right hon. Friend the Member for Knowsley (Mr Howarth) for securing this important debate and for the way in which he opened it. He knows better than almost anyone else the terrible price that this condition sometimes forces sufferers to pay and its impact not only on individuals, but on their families. If the Government need a champion for the matter, they could not find a better one than my right hon. Friend.

My short contribution will support many of my right hon. Friend’s points, but first I want to thank the health care professionals involved in the management and treatment of this condition, particularly those at my North Tyneside General hospital. As we have heard, diabetes affects around 35,000 people aged under 19, 90% having type 1 with a peak age of diagnosis between 10 and 14. We are making good progress in the treatment and management of type 1 diabetes, including among young people, but we have a long way to go. I am no scientist, but my fervent wish is that we find a cure not just in my lifetime but much sooner. Important work is being done in this country and elsewhere on stem cell research, which is a possible route to finding that cure.

I welcome the Prime Minister’s interest in promoting the work of the UK-Israeli partnership. It is important when Prime Ministers take an interest in a particular issue, but I echo the points made by my right hon. Friend that we must look at where the funding is coming from, where it is being directed, and the overall amount.

My first brief point is about timing. Type 1 diabetes in young people often occurs at a difficult time in young people’s lives when they are struggling to cope with the physical changes that come with being a teenager. After an acute episode they often find themselves managing a chronic condition. They may be struggling to come to terms with a new health regime and may suddenly find themselves being treated in the NHS as an adult. That difficult transition may lead to a break in service, and add to complications further down the line with damaging consequences.

The statistics for young women with type 1 diabetes are startling. Young women between the ages of 15 and 34 have a mortality rate seven times higher than the general population. I welcome the introduction of the best- practice tariff up to the age of 19, but ask the Government to consider extending it to 25. That would allow greater continuity of care and a more flexible transition, which should be based on clinical need and not age.

Type 1 diabetes is more than simply a physical condition, although it is that, and health care has improved in many ways with advice on diet, the massive impact of accessing eye tests and checking feet regularly, but there is a psychological impact. Anyone with a serious chronic condition that will last the whole of their lifetime will think about that and may become depressed at some point. I do not know enough about anorexia or bulimia to comment, but I do know that type 1 diabetics must at some point in their lives not only think about it but become depressed as a result. Therefore, access to psychological services should be part of the offer that is made. That should, when necessary, involve family members as well, because it is not just about the individual, but about their family.

I very much welcome the professional pathway that has been created for paediatric diabetes as a specialism, but, as my right hon. Friend and the hon. Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Mark Field) mentioned, we need to ensure that health care professionals are also aware of the condition and are supported by clear national standards. I would like that to be extended to teachers and other staff in schools as well. It is as important that the person looking after the dinner queue knows about diabetes in young people as it is that the person at the front of the class teaching them knows. That is why I support very much Diabetes UK’s “Make the Grade” campaign. I want every young person with type 1 diabetes to get the health care that they need, but I want them to get the educational opportunities as well. I want them to do well and go on to further and higher education. I want them to be able to take part in school sport and school visits without being worried and without the member of staff with them being worried.

The Government have produced figures—we have heard them today—about the cost to the NHS of diabetes. We have heard that the figure is £1.9 billion and rising, but, as ever, behind those statistics are thousands of young people with type 1 diabetes. Frankly, we could do more, and Government could do more, to make their lives not only better, but longer.