Health: Diabetes

Lord Hoyle Excerpts

Tuesday 19th March 2013 Grand Committee

[Lord Hoyle]

I am pleased to join in this debate. Like the noble Lord who has just spoken, I have had diabetes that has responded to treatment. It is possible to treat diabetes, and I thank my noble and learned friend for bringing about this debate. I have supported him in previous debates and am pleased to support him on this important matter because there are some 300,000 people with type 1 diabetes in this country and no one is sure what causes it. My noble and learned friend is right to say that more research is needed and the Minister, when he replies, can perhaps give us some assurances on that.

Most type 1 diabetes occurs in people before they are 40 but I am extremely concerned about the rate at which it is increasing in children. That in itself is causing problems because people whose children have diabetes very often find that they have to give up their job in order to attend school. I hope that the Minister will come in on this: there surely ought to be more collaboration between the health service and education. I tabled a Question to the Education Minister and I must say that the reply did not provide any more information. He said, “Yes, there ought to be programmes”, but there must be more collaboration because unless that happens, help will not be available to people with children.

We have said this because the cost of types 1 and 2 diabetes to the NHS amounts to £10 billion every year; and the direct patient costs of type 1 alone is £1 billion. Indeed, care for the illnesses induced by diabetes that make it necessary for people to take time off work if they are not treated properly—all sorts of things occur to them—costs £0.9 billion. We ought to be doing a lot of things about diabetes, and that is why it is important to have debates such as this which attract attention to the issue and raise its profile. As my noble friend said, there is no reason why people who are well treated cannot live healthy lives. Not enough of them are getting direct help and care. As I have said before, that often affects their work and their careers. They need a little more help from the health service.

How many people are receiving the nine tests that are available to them? In particular, how many children are receiving their annual tests? These tests should be given annually. Why is that not occurring? I say again that this matter should be given the priority that is needed. There is no doubt that if people are given the special care that should be available to them they can continue to hold down a job and have a career and a healthy life.

The other big concern that I have is with some of the side effects that occur from diabetes. There is no doubt that people are not receiving the education that they need; it is very patchy in relation to how many get it, but if they do get the education programmes, it helps them enormously. The 2009 data that I have seen show that of 6,500 people diagnosed with diabetes—the Minister may dispute my figures—only 180 received offers of help with education, and only 30% of those diagnosed attended a course. Surely we can do better than that—I should think so.

I would like to refer to the mental health side, because the figures show that people with diabetes are more likely to suffer from depression. Poor mental health has a very negative effect on people, as we know, and it is likely to need more care and attention from the NHS. Surely, we could offer people psychological care as well. That is a very important part of the treatment, and I do not know whether the Minister has any figures to show how many people are receiving that, or not. Like other noble Lords, I am disturbed by the idea that diabetes may be pushed further down and may not be receiving the attention that it should receive in the NHS. I was interested to see that there has been a new appointment of a national clinical director for obesity and diabetes. I welcome that appointment, but I hope that it is not only going to be about obesity, which is very important—but so is diabetes. I would like an assurance from the Minister that this new director will be concerned equally with diabetes as he is with obesity. Having said that, I welcome and look forward to the Minister’s reply.