Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the difference in diabetes rates amongst the (a) white and (b) BAME population in Ilford South constituency.

NHS England has given £3 million of funding to systems to provide clinical leadership to ensure that clinical diabetes metrics, such as the eight key diabetes care processes and treatment targets, are reviewed at an integrated care board level and unwarranted variation identified. A resource hub of materials has been set up on Future NHS, including examples of innovation and best practice for improvement of care process delivery, and achievement of treatment targets.

NHS England has established a focused engagement campaign, using social media and more traditional approaches, to raise awareness and boost uptake from these groups as part of its approach to address the poorer outcomes for those of south Asian and black ethnicity.

NHS England is aware that standard approaches to diabetes prevention and care can miss high risk individuals or be less effective for those who do not fit the demographic profile that these interventions were originally designed for. Redbridge Place Partnership, near Ilford, is an example of the local National Health Service taking a culturally sensitive and tailored approach to improve outreach in communities that have historically shown lower engagement with mainstream health services.

Redbridge Place is collaborating with system-wide partners, including the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector, to identify South Asian residents and other high-risk groups vulnerable to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and renal conditions. The aim is to reduce risk factors and ensure early intervention through optimised care pathways and national prevention programmes by improving access, integrating community engagement, and creating culturally sensitive health promotion strategies that reduce the diabetes gap.