LIVINGLIVING
P
ublished in early
January, the NHS Long
Term Plan was a big
document. Speaking
about it at the time, NHS
England chief executive Simon Stevens
said, "The NHS has been marking its
70th anniversary, and the national debate
has rightly centred on three big truths.
There's been pride in our health service's
enduring success, and in the shared
social commitment it represents. There's
been concern - about funding, staffing,
increasing inequalities and pressures
from a growing and ageing population.
And there's also been legitimate optimism
- about the possibilities for continuing
medical advance and better outcomes
of care. In looking ahead to the Health
Service's 80th birthday, this NHS Long
Term Plan acts on all three of these
realities. It keeps all that's good about our
health service and its place in our national
life. It tackles head-on the pressures
our staff face. And it sets a practical,
costed, phased route map for the NHS's
priorities for care quality and outcomes
improvement for the decade ahead."
Chris Askew, Chief Executive of
Diabetes UK respond to NHS England's
Long Term Plan, saying, "We are really
pleased with NHS England's commitment
to maintaining the focus on diabetes care
and Type 2 prevention. We hope this will
build on the good work already done, and
further reduce the variations in the quality
of diabetes care across England in terms
of access to education, treatment targets,
inpatient care and footcare.
"The plan confirms recent NHS
England announcements of a Type 2
diabetes remission pilot, the doubling of
the Diabetes Prevention Programme, and
the funding of Flash Glucose Monitoring
technology for those who qualify for it,
including a target of 25% of people living
with Type 1 diabetes. We also welcome
the commitment to developing networks
to improve the care for children with long
term conditions, which builds on existing
work for children with diabetes. While
the overall standard of care has been
improving, there is still great variation
between services, and therefore huge
scope for further improvement.
One direction
Commenting further on behalf of Diabetes
UK, the charity's Head of Policy, Robin
Hewings, said, "NHS England kicked off
the New Year by publishing in full their
long-awaited NHS Long Term Plan. This
plan will set the direction of the NHS
in England for the next five years, and
explains how the service will spend its
new £20bn cash injection. At Diabetes UK
we've been working hard, both publicly
and behind the scenes, to ensure that this
plan promises better care for people with
and at risk of diabetes. We're pleased to
report that on diabetes, the plan seems
to deliver. Some of the big initiatives in
the plan included making flash glucose
monitoring more widely available and
expanding the NHS Diabetes Prevention
Programme.
"The full document also gives much
needed assurances that existing funding
to transform diabetes care across
England will be continued, although we
don't currently know whether this will be
at the same levels. Taken together these
changes have the potential to make a real
difference. But turning the plan into reality
will not be easy as the NHS is still under
real strain."
The Long Term Plan included new
commitments from NHS England
regarding diabetes:
• Ensuring that everyone
who could benefit from flash glucose
monitoring (in line with clinical guidance)
will have access to it, as well as offering
continuous glucose monitoring to all
pregnant women with Type 1 diabetes.
THE LONG VIEW
An overview of the latest NHS Long Term plan specifically
regarding diabetes healthcare in England.
Robin Hewings, Diabetes
UK's Head of Policy,