Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the diabetes workforce across NHS England in the context of the NICE Technology Appraisal on Hybrid closed loop systems for managing blood glucose levels in type 1 diabetes.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published final draft guidance on the use of the hybrid closed loop (HCL) systems for managing blood glucose levels in type 1 diabetes to the National Health Service in England. The draft guidance is out for comment until 28 November 2023. If there are no appeals, then the final guidance will be published in December 2023.

NICE has accepted a funding variation request from NHS England which will see the technology rolled out across England over a five-year period.

The introduction of the HCL systems represents a step-change in care for people living with Type 1 diabetes and NHS England is ensuring that the NHS has the staff, training and patient support in place to safely rollout the technology across the country.

NHS England is engaging with integrated care boards and other stakeholders as part of the development of the HCL implementation strategy. The strategy will provide advice and guidance to integrated care boards and NHS providers on the phased approach to implementation.