A new service provider is taking on delivery of the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme (NDPP) in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, continuing the fight against type 2 diabetes.
Xyla Health and Wellbeing is replacing Ingeus, following a national procurement process, will start delivery on August 1, although it is already accepting referrals.
Xyla Health and Wellbeing and Ingeus have been working closely together for several months to ensure a seamless handover, in liaison with the Integrated Care Board (ICB) for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
Dr Paul O’Halloran, an Andover GP who is the clinical lead on diabetes for the ICB, said: “We would like to thank to Ingeus for their services over the years in helping to prevent so many hundreds of people from developing type 2 diabetes and look forward to working with Xyla to ensure the most-effective delivery possible of this key service.
“We know that many cases of Type 2 diabetes are preventable and there is strong international evidence that behavioural interventions can significantly reduce the risk of developing the condition, through reducing weight, increasing physical activity and improving the diet of those at high risk.
“The programme aims to make long-standing changes to people’s health and wellbeing. It literally changes lives.”
GPs concerned about patients who are at high risk of developing diabetes can refer them, with the individual’s consent, to the NDPP for group-based face-to-face sessions, an online app or the new tailored remote service for patients with previous gestational diabetes mellitus, hearing impairment, visual impairment and those from Bangladeshi or Pakistani backgrounds.
Matt Ellis, Regional Manager, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight for Xyla Health and Wellbeing said: “We’re delighted to be the new provider of the Healthier You NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme and delivering on the NHS England objectives to offer improved in-person group-based and on-line and digital services to people on the programme.“
From July 2017 to May 31, 2022, 32,258 people have been referred to the programme in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight – and nearly half (15,190) have started it, of whom 60 per cent have been women, 10 per cent from black, Asian and other ethnic communities, and 8 per cent from the area’s most deprived communities.
Of those completing the programme, the average weight loss for participants has been 3.9kgs at nine month and 2.7kg at six months.
