Research into the impact of the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme has revealed its success and driven further improvements for more people around England.
With the NHS spending billions on diabetes care every year and a large majority of that going towards treating related complications like heart disease and kidney problems, the health service rolled out its anti-diabetes scheme in 2016.
To determine the true scale of its success, a six-year independent investigation was launched by the University of Manchester.
The study, known as DIPLOMA, was further supported by the University of Sheffield, University College London and the National Institute for Health and Care Research.
Earlier this year, DIPLOMA found that, if a person is referred to the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme, they were 20% less likely to have type 2 diabetes three years later.
This means that over 30,000 of the 1.2 million programme participants have been spared the consequences of diabetes, according to the NIHR.
Findings from DIPLOMA have also supported decisions to extend, expand and digitise the programme, with similar schemes now introduced in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland too.
Leading the study was Matt Sutton, who is a professor of health economics at the University of Manchester.
He said: “While half of the people referred to the programme eventually joined it, we made recommendations to improve uptake among particular groups, such as those of working age, younger adults and minority ethnic groups, and we highlighted the need to ensure the programme content stayed true to the evidence base.”
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