Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to improve access to diabetes technologies across local diabetes services in the North East.
The National Health Service across the North East is dedicated to supporting patients in monitoring and managing their lifestyle with cutting edge technology. This has resulted in a high proportion of type 1 diabetic patients in the North East utilising the latest glucose monitors and insulin pumps to manage their condition. Local services are being redesigned to improve access to the latest technologies and reduce variation in care for vulnerable patients living with type 1 diabetes.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently developing technology appraisal guidance on hybrid closed loop systems for managing blood glucose levels in type 1 diabetes, which considers their clinical and cost effectiveness
It is not possible to list the ICBs in England which do not have a formal commissioning policy for real-time continuous glucose monitoring for adults and children with type 1 diabetes as this information is not collected
ICBs must pay due regard to NICE guidance, however local decision making applies in terms of deciding whether to utilise their funding to implement the recommendation or not.