Diabetes model of care could save £83 per patient per year


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Enhanced primary care based diabetes service can lead to a cost saving of £83 per patient per year

In a recently published article ‘A cost comparison of an enhanced primary care diabetes service and standard care’, the results from a before and after study comparing a newer, enhanced primary care were published. If delivered across all the practices in the UK, a cost saving of over £276 million could potentially be realised per annum.

Dr Samuel Seidu, GP Partner, NIHR Clinical Lecturer University of Leicester, Leicester Diabetes Centre said: 

“The evaluation was a straightforward cost comparison of enhanced versus standard care. We found that significant cost savings could be multiplied if the service was implemented nationally, leading to a cost saving of £83 per patient per year.”

Type 2 diabetes, which contributes to 90% of all cases of diabetes mellitus, is now mostly managed in primary care settings in the UK and other advanced healthcare systems. The UK National Health Service (NHS) as a whole could potentially benefit if more patients were managed in primary care settings, since primary care-based care is likely to be more cost-effective. 

The report initially compared eight larger general practices (enhanced practices) in Leicester with neighbouring smaller practices (core practices), matched for comparable demographic characteristics. Even though this initial study did not find any statistically significant differences in terms of clinical outcomes there was a trend in favour of the enhanced practices. This current study was conducted at a cost comparison of an enhanced practice model of diabetes care, to standard care delivered in the core practices.

All practices in the study had access to the Effective Diabetes Education Now (EDEN) training programme over the period of the trial, which was established in 2012 as a wide scale transformation programme, addressing the skill gaps amongst healthcare professionals (HCP) and the changing model of care in diabetes care in the city. 

Laura Willcocks, EDEN’s Lead for HCP Education and Training, Leicester Diabetes Centre (LDC) commented: 

“We work with multiple practices, Clinical Commisionning Groups (CCGs), and health boards to develop and deliver diabetes education. We are in a unique position to be part of the Leicester Diabetes Centre with access to the latest diabetes-evidenced research. We can adapt our model, knowing that we are delivering up-to-date education right to the heart of primary care.” 

For access to the full article please click here

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