Steve Brine MP has shown his support for people living with diabetes by speaking at a reception in Parliament hosted by Diabetes UK. Launching a new report as part of the charity’s Diabetes Is Serious campaign, the event shone a spotlight on the challenges facing the five million people living with diabetes in the UK, and included a number of recommendations for improving care and tackling health inequality.
The report includes shocking new figures showing that there were 7,000 excess deaths involving diabetes in 2022, 13% higher than expected. Diabetes UK fears the increase may be linked to the backlog in routine diabetes care caused by the Covid-19 pandemic when services faced huge disruptions. The charity is calling on the Government to put diabetes care at the heart of the Major Conditions Strategy to restore these checks to reduce early mortality, prevent people developing devastating diabetes complications and to reduce pressure on the NHS.
The event was attended by more than 70 MPs, and attendees heard from Steve Brine MP, alongside Diabetes UK chief executive, Chris Askew OBE and people with lived experience of diabetes. Diabetes UK also shared regional statistics, showing how services have recovered at different rates across England.
Helen Kirrane, Head of Policy, Campaigns and Mobilisation at Diabetes UK, said “We are so grateful to Steve for speaking at our event in Parliament. His support has helped us to raise the voice of people living with diabetes among key stakeholders and decision makers. Steve has been a long-time advocate for improving diabetes care and we look forward to continuing to work with him as Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee to champion the needs of people living with diabetes and at risk of type 2 diabetes.”
