Efforts to combat Type 2 diabetes across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight were in the spotlight at a national conference.
Andover GP Paul O’Halloran and Elizabeth Friend, Project Manager for the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme (DPP) for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board, presented a case study at the Diabetes Professional Care Conference at Olympia London.
The event is billed as a ‘must-attend’ for anyone involved in the prevention, treatment and management of diabetes and related conditions.
It aims to meet an increasing need for accessible information for healthcare professionals by arming them with the skills and knowledge to provide better care for people at risk of or living with diabetes.
Dr O’Halloran, who chairs the Diabetes Board for the Integrated Care System in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, and Mrs Friend spoke about ‘Turbocharging referrals to Healthier You NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme: The Hampshire and Isle of Wight experience.’
They discussed the approaches used in Hampshire and Isle of Wight to support accessing the programme for people at risk of Type 2 Diabetes.
Two pioneering schemes were the heath care assistant project to support the lower referring practices to invite people at risk of Type 2 diabetes onto the programme and a hospital scheme to enable patients who are eligible from Southampton hospital to be referred directly to the programme.
These two programmes have resulted in more than 800 additional referrals to the programme so far, with many more expected.
People enrolled in the NDPP get advice on healthy eating and exercise that can prevent them getting the condition, avoiding the need for medication and complications such as amputations. They can attend a group session in local venues or the digital programme.
Being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes can have a devastating impact on people and their families. It is a leading cause of preventable sight loss in people of working age and is a major contributor to kidney failure, heart attack, stroke and even premature death.
Dr O’Halloran said: “Combined lifestyle interventions – including diet, physical activity and sustained weight loss is extremely effective in reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes.
“That is why we need to ensure that all who can benefit from the programme know about it and can access it.”
Face-to-face interventions were paused during lockdown, but resumed in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight on April 1 this year.
Since the DPP started locally in August 2017, there have been 31,934 referrals, with 20,063 patients starting the programme since the DPP started in Hampshire in August 2017 until July 31, 2022.
The Hampshire ‘experience,’ outlined at the conference, included engaging key stakeholders and primary care (the GP practices) to support DPP roll out to patients who are risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes.
• The DPP programme in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight potentially covers a population of two million, 148 GP practices and 44 primary care networks.
• People can use an online tool Diabetes UK – Know Your Risk of Type 2 diabetes, hosted by Diabetes UK, to calculate their risk of developing the condition Type 2 diabetes by answering basic questions including age, weight and ethnicity. If the score comes back as moderate or high, it is important to speak to your GP practice about having a blood test for diabetes and ask about the Diabetes Prevention Programme. Healthier You | Diabetes Prevention Programme (preventing-diabetes.co.uk)
• Research earlier this year indicated that the national programme resulted in a 7% reduction in the number of new diagnoses of Type 2 diabetes in England between 2018 and 2019, with around 18,000 people averting the dangerous consequences of the condition.
• The research, by the University of Manchester, suggested that someone completing the NDPP reduces their chances of developing type 2 diabetes by more than a third (37%).