Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if NHS England will take steps to routinely offer finger-prick testing for anyone with symptoms of type 1 diabetes.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has recently updated the clinical guidelines on type 1 diabetes in children and young people, which is available at the following link:

www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng18

This sets out that children and young people without a known diagnosis of diabetes can also present with diabetic ketoacidosis which requires urgent diagnosis and management. This includes the measurement of capillary blood glucose, which is usually undertaken through a finger-prick test.

NHS England is also exploring improvements that can be made to support clinicians in identifying type 1 diabetes, as well as raising awareness of the signs of type 1 diabetes for the public and clinicians.