Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has any plans to reintroduce blood glucose test strips on prescription for Type 2 diabetics.

Blood glucose test strips are available on prescription for people with type 2 diabetes. However, it is for clinical commissioning groups to make decisions on the commissioning of health services that best meet the needs of their local population, taking into account local priorities and needs.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published guidance on the management of type 2 Diabetes in adults. This guideline states:

“1.6.13 Do not routinely offer self-monitoring of blood glucose levels for adults with type 2 diabetes unless:

• the person is on insulin or
• there is evidence of hypoglycaemic episodes or
• the person is on oral medication that may increase their risk of hypoglycaemia while driving or operating machinery or
• the person is pregnant, or is planning to become pregnant. For more information, see the NICE guideline on diabetes in pregnancy (http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng3 ). There have been no recent changes to prescribing recommendations, although NHS England have recently consulted on proposals to prescribe test strips only that fall below a certain cost threshold.”

More information is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng28/chapter/1-Recommendations#blood-glucose-management-2