NHS England recognises power of digital with focus on diabetes education

Tens of thousands of people with Type 2 diabetes may soon be able to access digital structured education programmes to better manage their condition, thanks to a £3.5 million funding boost from NHS England (NHSE). NHSE is to announce that 25% of the diabetes education Transformation Fund can now be used for digital tools.

Changing Health, a leading provider of digital behaviour change programmes for people with Type 2 diabetes, pre-diabetes, and weight management, welcomed the news.

CEO of DigitalHealth.London Accelerator company Changing Health, John Grumitt said: “This is exciting news for the diabetes community and health economies across the UK. It’s a positive acknowledgement that digital education can help increase both access and completion rates for structured education that lead to significant improvements in health outcomes,”

The recent National Diabetes Audit (NDA) put attendance of face-to-face education at 7%. By comparison, digital education can achieve a 10-fold increase in a fraction of the time.

The funding will run until March 2019, and could provide access to digital education for tens of thousands of people. Detailed guidance will be out soon from NHS England. Commissioning organisations have been advised to begin their applications immediately.

Notes to editors

  • Changing Health Chief Executive John Grumitt is available for interview.
  • Media Contact : Mark Williams, Communications Executive: markw@changinghealth.com
  • Case studies are available – see here for details. www.changinghealth.com/cs and www.changinghealth.com/cs2
  • Changing Health provides behaviour change programmes through evidence based digital education and lifestyle coaching for people with Type 2 diabetes, pre-diabetes and weight management issues. It offers the best value for money per unit change in HbA1c in the UK, improves patient satisfaction and can be deployed at scale, making better use of scarce health resources.
  • Today around 7% of people with diabetes attend education programmes: almost none receive sustained support. We remove access barriers and use techniques proven to improve clinical outcomes which in turn reduce spend on avoidable complications that consume 10% of NHS budget. Visit changinghealth.com/nhs to learn more.