Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing routine (a) blood glucose and (b) ketone testing for children presenting with symptoms consistent with Type 1 diabetes; and what steps he is taking to help improve early diagnosis and prevent deaths from diabetic ketoacidosis.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for providing guidance and quality standards on the treatment and care of diabetes in England. NICE NG18 guideline for type 1 and 2 diabetes provides clinical guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment and care of children and young people. Children with suspected type 1 diabetes should receive a blood test that checks blood glucose (sugar) levels.

NG18 recommends that children and young people with suspected type 1 diabetes are referred immediately (on the same day) to a multidisciplinary paediatric diabetes team with the competencies needed to confirm diagnosis and provide immediate care. Where diabetic ketoacidosis is suspected, NG18 recommends that children and young people should be immediately transferred to a hospital with acute paediatric facilities.