We have published recommendations that show how the move to a neighbourhood health service in England could deliver much needed improvements in diabetes care.
What is a neighbourhood health service?
In its 10-year plan for improving the NHS, the Government has pledged to create a neighbourhood health service that would prevent and treat ill health closer to where people live rather than in hospitals.
Our report published today, titled 'Delivering diabetes care in a neighbourhood health service' (PDF, 4,300KB), lays out how a neighbourhood health service provides opportunities to improve diabetes care across England.
A neighbourhood health service could also help to provide more preventative care for people at risk of type 2 diabetes.
We know that one in five adults now live with prediabetes or diabetes, and these numbers continue to rise. The cost of diabetes complications makes up 60% of the total cost to the NHS of managing and treating diabetes, but with the right care, treatment and support, many diabetes complications can be prevented.
We have spoken to healthcare professionals working to improve diabetes care in England to establish what the key steps would be for neighbourhood health services to deliver for people with diabetes.
Our report builds on local examples of neighbourhood care that have already been established and are delivering improvements in diabetes care and prevention.
For example, the Leicester Model of Diabetes Care is a primary-care centred approach which delivers an enhanced diabetes service, bringing key services from secondary care to primary and community care, and training healthcare professionals to deliver high-quality diabetes care.
Reducing barriers to diabetes care
Among those healthcare professionals who had already set up local neighbourhood health services to improve diabetes care, they identified certain barriers within the primary and community care system.
These included a poor understanding of the diabetes population and related health inequalities, and a lack of healthcare professionals with diabetes expertise in leadership roles.
This is why we have developed six key principles for creating a neighbourhood health service which delivers for people with and at high risk of diabetes:
- Embed diabetes clinical leadership to drive innovation.
- Invest in financial incentives which support diabetes care and reduce inequalities in health.
- Ensure neighbourhood health teams provide optimum routine diabetes care.
- Invest in a healthcare professional workforce with the expertise to both prevent and treat diabetes, obesity, and multimorbidity.
- Assign clear accountability for recording data and delivering improvements and integrate data across community, primary, and secondary care providers.
- Underpin neighbourhood health by moving to digital healthcare.
Next steps
We have been speaking with decision-makers at national and local level about what we want to see from a neighbourhood health service.
We will be sharing our report widely with health commissioners, healthcare professionals and parliamentarians as well.
Colette Marshall, CEO of Diabetes UK, said:
“Lasting change starts in our communities; in the environments we live in and in the care we receive. Our vision is one in which diabetes prevention, treatment and care are thriving, and people are living longer, healthier lives. Delivering these outcomes will put us firmly on track towards a health system that’s fit for the future.”
