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Greater Lincolnshire is one of 27 new areas in England to offer world’s first nationwide Diabetes Prevention Programme in wave one of roll-out

People at high risk of Type 2 diabetes will be invited to join a programme helping them to avoid developing the condition as a new national scheme launches in Greater Lincolnshire.

This covers the whole of North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire along with the Lincolnshire County Council area. Key cities and towns include Cleethorpes, Grimsby, Immingham, Scunthorpe, Lincoln, Gainsborough, Boston, Grantham, Stamford, Louth and Skegness.

It is one of 27 regions launching a diabetes prevention scheme as part of the national Healthier You: NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme looking to help people at high risk of the condition change their lifestyles.

GPs across the region expect to begin to refer people they know to be at high risk during 2016. 

Those referred will get tailored, personalised help to reduce their risk of Type 2 diabetes including education on healthy eating and lifestyle, help to lose weight and bespoke physical exercise programmes, all of which together have been proven to reduce the risk of developing the disease.

The nationwide programme will start this year with a first wave of 27 areas covering 26 million people, half of the population, and making up to 20,000 places available. This will roll out to the whole country by 2020 with 100,000 referrals available each year after.

Stephen Pintus, Director of Public Health for North East Lincolnshire Council said: “I am delighted that we have been chosen to be in the first wave of areas selected to roll out the NHS England Diabetes Prevention Programme.  The incidence of diabetes is increasing every year due to the ageing of the population and lifestyle factors associated with diet and sedentary lifestyles.  If we can implement effective interventions when people begin to show signs of pre diabetes then we will reduce the burden of this disease, improve the health and wellbeing of our population and reduce the cost of health and social care services in our area.”

Dr Arun Nayyar, planned care clinical lead with NHS North East Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), commented: “It’s fantastic news this area has been selected to be part of the first wave of the national diabetes prevention programme. This is a great opportunity to work together with five other CCGs and three local authorities to tackle diabetes head on. In many cases this is a preventable condition and the new programme will enable more people in our area to receive support to live healthier lives with less risk of developing the disease.”

There are currently 2.6 million people with Type 2 diabetes in England with around 200,000 new diagnoses every year. While Type 1 diabetes cannot be prevented and is not linked to lifestyle, Type 2 diabetes is largely preventable through lifestyle changes.

Currently 63,587 people in Greater Lincolnshire have Type 2 diabetes and 121,299 people are thought to be high risk.

One in 6 of all people in hospital have diabetes - while diabetes is often not the reason for admission, they often need a longer stay in hospital, are more likely to be re admitted and their risk of dying is higher.

Over nine months patients will be offered at least 13 education and exercise sessions of one to two hours per session, at least 16 hours face to face or 1 to 1 in total.

Simon Stevens NHS England’s CEO said: “Around 500 people every day find out they’ve got Type 2 diabetes – a serious but often preventable health condition. By offering targeted support for at-risk individuals, the NHS is now playing our part in the wider campaign against obesity – which is already costing the country more than we spend on the police and fire service combined.

“The benefits for patients will show up as hospitalisations prevented, strokes avoided and amputations averted. This programme is a reminder that the ‘H’ in NHS stands for health.”

Stephen Ryan, Head of the North at Diabetes UK said: “Type 2 diabetes is a serious health condition that can lead to devastating complications such as kidney disease, amputation and stroke. These complications are not only personally devastating, but are also extremely costly to our health service. That people in England identified at high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes will be offered personalised support to help them to eat well, become more active and maintain a healthy weight is therefore a significant step in the right direction. This will provide them with the best possible chance of reducing their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, and living a long full healthier life.”

Healthier You: the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme is run collaboratively by NHS England, Public Health England and Diabetes UK.

In a phased approach the 27 areas will open their doors to patients in the next few months and throughout 2016.

Four providers have been chosen to join the NHS Provider Framework and local health services will work with their chosen provider/s to deliver a service for their area.
                      
The first wave sites were chosen as they already had significant infrastructure in place to support volumes of referrals from the start.

Three quarters of clinical commissioning groups joined forces with local authorities to bid to become part of the first wave and will now work with providers to develop a service over the next few months.
The NHS DPP was launched in March 2015, initially in seven ‘demonstrator’ sites which have been trialling different models of finding people known to be at high risk and helping them change their lifestyles.
Learning has been taken from these sites to inform the programme.