Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the report from the charity Breakthrough T1D, Access for all: The impact of technology on the lives of people with type 1 diabetes, published in October, which concluded that respondents from lower socio-economic groups, and those over the age of 65, were least likely to be aware of new technologies such as hybrid closed loop systems, what plans they have to raise awareness of the latest technologies available to type 1 diabetes patients of all ages and socio-economic groups across England.

NHS England’s Diabetes Programme uses a range of communication channels, including mainstream and social media, to share information about the latest technologies that are available for people with Type 1 diabetes. NHS England works closely with its partners, including Breakthrough T1D, Diabetes UK and the Association of British Clinical Diabetologists Technology Network to amplify key messages.

A new decision support tool has been designed to support people to understand what diabetes treatment technologies are available on the National Health Service, supporting discussions between someone living with type 1 diabetes and their healthcare professional about the technology they are eligible for and supports shared decision-making about the person’s care in managing type 1 diabetes.

Furthermore, nationally commissioned self-management resources have been put in place, including DigiBete, designed for children and young people aged between zero and 25 years old with type 1 diabetes in ten languages and MyType1 Diabetes, which is available to all adults living with type 1 diabetes.

As part of NHS England’s focus on improving equity of access to diabetes technology, diabetes care is one of the five clinical areas of focus for integrated care boards to achieve system change and improve care within the Core20Plus5 for children and young people . Core20PLUS5 is a national NHS England approach to support the reduction of health inequalities at both national and system level. The approach defines a target population cohort and identifies five focus clinical areas requiring accelerated improvement. The aim of this work is to increase access to real-time continuous glucose monitors and insulin pumps for people in the most deprived 20% of the national population and people from ethnic minority backgrounds.