Type 2 diabetes prevention drive expanded by NHS England

A national campaign to help prevent people from developing type 2 diabetes has been extended.
The NHS England initiative, which is targeting people at high risk of the condition, will be delivered at 13 new sites. Wave 2 of The Healthier You: NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme has just been announced and will reach a further 25 per cent of the country.
It means that there will an additional 130,000 people referred onto the programmen, which offers advice on diet and exercise, with a further 50,000 due to be available as part of the increased remit.
NHS England said the existing 27 areas already delivering the programme have also been given funding for the year ahead.
The organisation is aiming to eventually roll it out in every county in England and wants to achieve 200,000 referrals and to have over 80,000 going through the programme by 2018/19.
Simon Stevens, who is the chief executive of NHS England, said: “With more than 18,000 people having already started our diabetes prevention programmen, the NHS is doing its bit but this is a battle we cannot win alone.”
Professor Jonathan Valabhji, NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Diabetes and Obesity, added: “Tackling diabetes is one of the biggest healthcare challenges of our time, as the number of people with type 2 diabetes continues to rise. The NHS, along with its partners, is going to great lengths to help keep those with diabetes healthy.”
The areas covered in wave 2 of the programme include:
Milton Keynes, Bedfordshire and Luton
Bucks, Oxford and Berk West
Hampshire and Isle of Wight
Black Country
Cornwall and IOS – Cornwall and Isles of Scilly
Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucester
Gloucestershire
North Central London
South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw
Greater Manchester
Lancashire and South Cumbria
West Yorkshire
Bath and North East Somerset Swindon and Wiltshire
So far just under 50,000 people at high risk of type 2 diabetes have been referred onto the programme in Wave 1, with over 18,000 going through the programme as of late April. This beats the target of 10,000 referrals during 2017/18.
Meanwhile, NHS England has revealed how its transformation fund for diabetes will be spent, with a pot of £42 million having been earmarked to improve care as part of its Five Year Forward View plan.
Clinical Commissioning Groups and Strategic Transformations Partnerships, which are both responsible for NHS care locally, applied for money to improve aspects of diabetes care and so far £36 million of funding has been approved. The panel, which decided on the bids, has asked for further information about plans totalling £4 million.