Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the disparity of outcomes in Type 1 diabetes care and Type 2 diabetes care.

Diabetes is a clear priority for this Government and we are in the early stages of developing plans to improve the outcomes of people with and at risk of diabetes. For example, we are considering improvements in the management and care of people with diabetes which would focus equally on Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

Whilst there is still more to do in terms of reducing variation in the delivery of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence care processes and achievement of the treatment targets, we are now beginning to see the benefits of incentivising these through the Quality and Outcomes Framework in terms of reductions in complications and premature mortality.

The most recent National Diabetes Audit data shows that the relative risk for someone with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes developing heart failure is significantly reduced. There are also clear trends in the reduction of the relative risk of developing angina, heart attack, stroke, major amputation and end stage kidney disease. In 2013, the Global Burden of Disease Study showed that the United Kingdom has the lowest rates of early death due to diabetes of the 19 wealthy countries included in the analysis.

The National Diabetes Audit 2012–2013 Report 2: Complications and Mortality provides data on health outcomes for those with Type 1 diabetes and Type 2 diabetes on an annual basis allowing comparisons between the two types to be made.

NHS England is developing a sample service specification on the transition from children and young people diabetes services to adult services for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to use if they so choose. This will benefit those with Type 1 diabetes. In addition, a sample diabetes service specification was published in July 2014, which aimed to highlight the specific care needs of those with Type 1 diabetes where they differ from those with Type 2. However, NHS England currently has no plans to publish plans for a programme of work to improve outcomes for people with Type 1 diabetes.

NHS England has also recently agreed to extend the roll out of its Right Care programme to all CCGs over the next four years. This will ensure that, where local diabetes services and outcomes are poorer compared to demographic peers, suitable improvement programmes will be implemented, with the learning shared across all CCGs.