Diabetes UK has issued a statement in response to Lord Ara Darzi’s independent report on the current state of the NHS.

The report, published on 12th September 2024, highlighted significant challenges, including chronic underfunding, staff disengagement, and the pandemic’s lasting impact on services. The independent investigation was commissioned by the recently appointed Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in July 2024, following the general election. The report concluded that the NHS is in a “critical condition,” with the Government saying that the NHS needs to be reformed to overcome challenges like long waiting times.

Lord Darzi’s report notes the increase in people living with type 2 diabetes, alongside long-term conditions including high blood pressure and respiratory illness, which are all placing additional challenges on the NHS. Crucially, the report states that not all people with diabetes receive their essential diabetes health checks, which leads to a further

“For many long-term conditions, there is a strong evidence base about what interventions are required,” Darzi states in the report. “People with diabetes, for example, should have eight care processes that are well-defined and evidence-based.”

“Yet while there has been some progress, there are wide disparities between the most and least deprived communities, with the least deprived 5% more likely to receive all eight than the most deprived.”

However, the report conversely highlights the power of the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme, which reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes by nearly 40%.

Colette Marshall, Chief Executive at Diabetes UK, said:

“Diabetes is serious and it’s abundantly clear from the findings of Lord Darzi’s review that the government must focus more of its health spending on prevention and early interventions. These keep people well and reduce the need for more expensive treatment down the line.”

“We firmly believe that significant investment to improve primary and community care would allow people living with diabetes to access the health checks they need and lessen the cost of treating serious diabetes complications such as amputations, heart attacks and sight loss in the future.”

“The recent Cost of Diabetes study we commissioned estimated the current bill to the NHS for treating these complications to be £6.2bn annually – and we’ve called for action to be taken to shift the dial from crisis to preventative care to prevent that figure from rising even further.”

“Lord Darzi’s report backs up our call for greater spending at a community level where early support and education for people currently living with diabetes can help prevent poor health and additional long-term conditions from developing.”

“Already 3.7 million people are living with a diabetes diagnosis in England and an estimated one million more are currently undiagnosed – numbers that are only likely to rise as a further 5.1 million are believed to be living with prediabetes.”

You can read the full response on the Diabetes UK website here: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/about-us/news-and-views/lord-darzi-nhs-report-reveals-need-focus-early-diabetes-care