Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of inequality of access to structured diabetes education courses; and what steps they are taking to address those inequalities.

The National Diabetes Audit (NDA) reports on the number of people who are offered and attended structured education programmes within 12 months of diabetes diagnosis. Data on the completion of structured education is not available within the NDA.

The number of people who were offered and attended structured education within 12 months of being diagnosed with diabetes in 2016, by diabetes type in England can be found in the following table.

Notes:

1. Diabetes type is reported as ‘Type 1’ and ‘Type 2 and other’ within the NDA.
1. ‘Type 1’ includes where a person is recorded as having type 1 diabetes in the NDA.
2. ‘Type 2 and other’ includes where a person is recorded as having type 2 diabetes, Maturity-onset Diabetes of the Young, other or non-specified diabetes in the NDA.
2. Based on people who appear in the 2017-18 NDA who have a primary care record and a diabetes diagnosis in the calendar year 2016.

NHS England are working to reduce inequalities and widen routes of access to structured education by offering digital self-management support programmes which can offer a more flexible option, particularly for those of working age. These include:

- Access to Healthy Living for People with type 2 Diabetes (HeLP Diabetes) which is an evidenced online self-management tool for those with type 2 diabetes. This will be centrally funded, by NHS England and made available nationally, with implementation starting later this year. The intention is for HeLP Diabetes to be offered to both the newly-diagnosed and prevalent populations, supporting those living with type 2 diabetes at the point of diagnosis and on an ongoing basis;

- NHS England has made £2 million available through the NHS Test Bed Programme to implement and evaluate digital delivery models for self-management education for people living with type 2 diabetes; and

- Clinical commissioning groups who are in receipt of transformation funding have been supported by NHS England to increase uptake of structured education by use of funding to commission digital services where it has been agreed that this would best meet the needs of the local population.

Further to the commitments in the NHS Long Term Plan, the National Implementation Framework, is to be published in the spring, which will provide further information on how the NHS Long Term Plan will be implemented. This will set out further detail on how the National Health Service will further expand provision of structured education and the pace at which local systems will widen provision and routes of access.