NHS England has provided a £3.5 million funding boost to support thousands of people with Type 2 diabetes access digital structured education programmes to better manage their condition.
NHS England is also to announce that 25% of the diabetes education Transformation Fund can now be used for digital tools.
Changing Health Chief Executive John Grumitt commented on the news 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.
