The Future of Health and Care

Overview

This briefing has been prepared by JDRF in advance of the debate on the announcements from the Queen’s Speech (May 2021) on the future of the NHS and social care. The briefing sought to promote the voice of people with type 1 diabetes within reforms to the NHS and build a health system that strengthens diabetes care.

Our asks for future reforms to the bill include:

1. Invest in innovative technology, involving collaboration between government departments to support research into such treatments. The NHS should be supported to uptake tech-based treatments when they are available, including training all healthcare practitioners in their usage. This also requires more comprehensive data collection around type 1 diabetes.
2. Address health inequalities, by ensuring all clinics offer equal treatment options for patients, and ensure consistent levels of training by clinicians across the UK. Focus on hardly reached communities in restoring care and ensure a blended approach to virtual and face to face appointments.
3. Ensure person-centred design of services, by bringing patient experience into consultation and ensuring accountability to local people. The goal should be an NHS that delivers tailored and personalised care for people with type 1, where the priorities of the person with type 1 is factored into consultations and healthcare outcomes. This requires more time at appointments with clinicians.
4. Strengthen mental health and emotional wellbeing support for people with type 1, embedding mental health services within clinics and working with NICE to consider mental health when assessing the value of new medicines and technologies.

Full briefing

Read the full report – JDRF briefing: Debate on the Queen’s Speech: A plan for the NHS and Social Care (pdf doc)