Thank you for all those who reached out to me and shared concerns regarding the state of diabetes care in our community. I completely understand the seriousness of diabetes and its impact on the lives of individuals.

Diabetes is a leading cause of premature mortality, doubling an individual's risk of cardiovascular disease. Type 1 diabetes affects 400,000 people in the UK and its incidence is increasing by about 4 per cent a year. As it is not preventable, the emphasis is on improving the lives of people with Type 1 diabetes and helping them to manage their condition. I welcome that the NHS spends around£10 billion every year to manage and results in over 22,000 additional deaths each year. That is why I believe it is important that high quality diabetes care is available.

A total £5 million was provided in 2021/22 in a national recovery fund to support the recovery of routine diabetes care through innovative projects. The programme approved 28 projects with delivery in 2022/23. A further £75 million of funding is also being allocated between 2020/21 and 2023/24 for the treatment and care of people living with diabetes. NHS England continues to work to identify and develop plans to address gaps in the provision of services.

The Government also supports work to prevent the development of diabetes. The NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme operates to identify people who are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes and refers them onto a nine-month, evidence-based lifestyle change programme. Latest figures in February 2023 shows a 20% reduction in risk for those who are referred to the programme compared to those who are not.

Finally, the Government has announced its intention to develop and publish a Major Conditions Strategy. The strategy will set out a strong and coherent policy agenda that sets out a shift to integrated, whole-person care. Interventions set out in the strategy will aim to alleviate pressure on the health system, as well as support the Government’s objective to increase healthy life expectancy and reduce ill-health related labour market inactivity. Diabetes is one of the six major conditions included in the strategy.

Thank you once again for raising this matter to my attention.