Nurses supporting efforts to curb rising tide of diabetes
A nurse-led group has created a new resource to help primary care staff respond to the increasing number of people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Trend Diabetes has launched the leaflet to address what it described as “the urgent need for guidance and resources” on this topic.
“The increasing number of individuals considered at risk of diabetes presents additional challenges for our healthcare services”
June James
It warned that more than seven million people in the UK were currently deemed at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
The new leaflet by Trend Diabetes is designed to help health professionals working in primary care to identify and support these individuals.
The resource is also available to patients and outlines information on lifestyle changes that can be made to delay or prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes.
June James, co-chair of Trend Diabetes and independent consultant in diabetes nursing, said: “The increasing number of individuals considered at risk of diabetes in the UK presents additional challenges for our healthcare services.
“This new leaflet aims to equip GPs, other healthcare professionals and people who are at risk with the tools they need to support efforts to reverse this condition by making simple changes to diet and activity levels.”
Trend Diabetes is led by diabetes nursing experts from across the UK and creates educational resources about diabetes for all health professionals.
The new leaflet from the organisation comes in the same week that NHS England praised the success of its ‘soups and shakes’ programme in tackling type 2 diabetes.
A new study, published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, showed that, of those who completed the programme and were measured twice, a third (32%) had put their diabetes into remission.
The 12-month diet initiative, officially called The NHS Type 2 Diabetes Path to Remission Programme, is for people who have type 2 diabetes and are overweight or obese.
For the first 12 weeks, participants are provided with meal replacement products such as soups, shakes and bars, which amount to 800 to 900 calories a day.
“We hope to see even more people benefiting in years to come and an increase in referrals to the programme”
Elizabeth Robertson
After that, they are supported to reintroduce normal food and move on to a healthy diet to maintain weight loss.
More than 25,000 people have been offered the programme – run by NHS England and Diabetes UK – since it was first piloted in 2020 and it has recently been expanded.
Dr Clare Hambling, national clinical director for diabetes and obesity at NHS England, said the findings of the study were “encouraging” and showed that “obesity can be tackled head-on”.
She said her organisation would be considering further expansion of the path to remission programme in the future.
Dr Elizabeth Robertson, director of research at Diabetes UK, also welcomed the findings.
She noted how the journey to weight loss and diabetes remission was “tough” and that “having support is critical”.
“We hope to see even more people benefiting in years to come and an increase in referrals to the programme especially for people recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and in younger people where the impact of type 2 diabetes and remission from it is greatest,” she added.
