Diabetes

A new Modernisation Initiative will be launched in 2010 focusing on the prevention, detection and treatment of diabetes across south east London. £4.5 million has been set aside towards the programme until 2013.

Diabetes is a condition in which the amount of glucose in the blood is too high. Type 1 diabetes develops because the body cannot produce enough insulin. Type 2 diabetes develops when the body cannot produce enough insulin and /or is resistant to that which is produced.

During 2009, more than 22,000 people were diagnosed with diabetes in Lambeth and Southwark, with at least 4,000 people estimated to be undiagnosed in the two boroughs.

Diabetes carries a risk of life-threatening acute illness. People die 15 years younger than average - and the disease can lead to devastating long-term complications affecting the kidneys, eyes and feet. Rates of diabetes have risen dramatically amongst young people due to a rise in childhood obesity.

A programme director will lead a multi-professional team to create world-class diabetes services locally as a beacon for the wider NHS. The team will be hosted by NHS Lambeth and will work across the local NHS to develop a cross-organisational approach to modernising services, firstly by understanding where gaps or barriers to services exist and then to test and develop new ways of working to improve patients’ quality of life.

The programme will include a review of attitudes towards people with, and at risk of, diabetes, to develop ways of preventing the onset of the disease.

The team will also work closely with researchers at King’s Health Partners – the Academic Health Sciences Centre for Guys’ and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London - to ensure that the latest medical research informs the service improvements.

Diabetes was selected for transformation following a consultation exercise in the local NHS and a subsequent scoping exercise was commissioned to ascertain the need for and likely impact of a transformation of diabetes services in Lambeth and Southwark. Download the scoping report here »