A CAMPAIGN to tackle Type 2 diabetes in inner-city Bradford has been praised by a national charity for its work in preventing the country's "biggest health challenge".

Diabetes UK, which published its annual State of the Nation report yesterday, said the poor state of diabetes healthcare was leading to avoidable deaths, record numbers of patients reporting health complications, and huge costs to the NHS.

It praised the "excellent and innovative" 'Bradford Beating Diabetes' (BBD) scheme for offering lifestyle interventions to more than 10,000 people, and diagnosing more than 900 patients with Type 2 diabetes since it began in November 2013.

The report stated there had been "very little overall improvement" in diabetes healthcare over the past year, with 2.7million people - or six per cent of the adult population - now diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, and a further 9.6 million said to be at risk of developing the condition.

Although the number is continuing to rise, Diabetes UK said 80 per cent of cases of Type 2 diabetes could be prevented by the implementation of a suitable intervention programme, such as BBD.

The charity also said current spending on diabetes accounted for about ten per cent of total NHS budget, estimated at around £10billion a year, but claimed 80 per cent of that money was spent on treating rather than trying to prevent the condition.

Stephen Ryan, head of Diabetes UK for the North of England, said: “The increasing numbers of people with Type 2 diabetes is fuelling the huge costs we are seeing to the NHS.

COMMENT: WORK TO TACKLE HIDDEN KILLER DESERVES PRAISE

"This is why it is vital that we have programmes in place, such as The Bradford Beating Diabetes project, that help to identify and support people at high risk of developing the condition.

"Local initiatives such as this, along with greater support to help people diagnosed with diabetes to live long and healthy lives, is key to preventing what is fast becoming our biggest health challenge.”

Since it was established by the NHS Bradford City Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), all 27 GP practices in the city centre have engaged with the BBD scheme, designed to support 7,500 patients with Type 2 diabetes, and an estimated 5,700 people at moderate or high risk of developing the condition.

The BBD team has put together a care passport for patients to keep a record of their vital diabetes health checks - such as weight, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels - and as a result, the number of diabetic patients in Bradford receiving the nine key checks needed to manage their condition has increased from 40 per cent to 56 per cent.

Clinical chairman of the Bradford City CCG, Dr Akram Khan, said: "We are proud that Bradford is leading the way in the diagnosis and care of diabetes, and we have come a long way in our battle against the condition.

"We knew many local people either had, or were at risk of, diabetes and we were determined to tackle this head-on with the support of our GP practices.

“We have been working hard to prevent as many patients as we can from developing diabetes, as well as providing dedicated care and advice to those who have the condition, and we are now seeing some excellent results.

“But there is still work to do, and BBD remains committed to continuing the good work."

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