NHS Diabetes Policy: The Human and Financial Costs

cc            Sir David Nicholson

Human Costs

The extent of the human costs of the NHS diabetes policy is tabulated in the following table extracted from:

http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB12738/nati-diab-audi-11-12-mort-comp-rep.pdf

Complication	Number of people with diabetes experiencing the complication
Angina	117,278
Myocardial Infarction	28,812
Heart Failure	81,452
Stroke	35,120
Major Amputation	3,319
Minor Amputation	5,869
RRT	15,415
Retinopathy Treatment	14,144
DKA	10,434

Financial Costs

The extent of the financial costs of the NHS diabetes policy is extracted from:

http://www.thechip.org.uk/images/uploads/j.1464-5491_.2012_.03698_.x_.pdf

Diabetes cost approximately £23.7bn in the UK in 2010/2011: £9.8bn in direct costs and £13.9bn in indirect costs. Direct costs include the costs of diagnosis and retinopathy screening, treatment and management and complications (the cost of complications was estimated at £7.7bn - .79% of direct costs). The indirect costs include mortality costs, productivity loss costs, and social costs for care. Diabetes currently accounts for 10% of the total health resource expenditure. 

Conclusions

“Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are prominent diseases in the UK and are a significant economic burden. … Complications related to the diseases account for a substantial proportion of the direct health costs. As prevalence increases, the cost of treating complications will grow if current care regimes are maintained”. [My bold]

John