Diabetes UK has a long, successful track record in providing support services to people with diabetes and latterly to the commissioners of diabetes services. This includes:
- our telephone-based Careline service
- activities for people with diabetes to enable them to learn to live well with their diabetes
- a wide range of information accessible to an increasing range of media.
We do not provide clinical or medical care services, eg our Careline service offers support for people with diabetes but specifically does not offer any individualised medical advice.
The provision of support services will continue to be an important part of our work and we intend to deliver more where we can demonstrate that the impact of our support services will improve the lives of people with diabetes.
The commissioners of services increasingly look to us to support them in a variety of ways, such as in the design of local diabetes services - eg in ensuring high quality service user involvement in the design and evaluation of the service.
In England, where 'contestability' is beginning to result in new providers being commissioned by the NHS, we anticipate a need for our support services, eg in evaluating service specifications and / or the quality of the service being delivered by the new provider.
We shall seek reimbursement for the cost of our support services where they are being provided to an organisation.
We shall aim to make the information we provide to a person with diabetes or someone at risk of diabetes at no cost to them.
We do not plan for the foreseeable future to provide medical or clinical care services, eg by employing diabetes specialist nurses.
We will not compete either with the NHS or indeed other providers of clinical care.
We will set out standards for diabetes care and support – encompassing all areas including clinical, education, and psychological support.
We will work with commissioners and providers increasingly by local volunteers proactively influencing them and monitoring performance.
We will seek to ensure that high-quality care is provided for all – regardless of who provides it.