6. 6. Debate: Diabetes Services in Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:32 pm on 2 May 2017.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 4:32, 2 May 2017

Well, I reckon lots of those things do take place, particularly in primary schools, but also in secondary schools, too. There’s a challenge again about how we normalise it and also that normalisation not just being something that is confined to a school. It isn’t solely the responsibility of education professionals to get children and young people to be physically active and physically literate. That’s part of the challenge that we have, actually. It’s about the engagement of the parent and the carer group and our community examples as well. If we can’t get that part right, actually, we’re fighting an uphill struggle. So, I don’t think we have a significant disagreement. It’s really about how we get from the diagnosis and what we want to do to actually delivering that in practice.

I recognise what you say about saving people in the future, but I do think part of our reckoning is that we can save people in their 30s, 40s and 50s, either through the prevention of type 2 diabetes, or in the better management of it, and, actually, there are lots of evidence that I’m going to refer to later of the fact that physical activity has real benefits in either the prevention or actually in the better management of this and a range of other conditions.

I also recognise the points Julie Morgan raised on type 1 diabetes. I think with you I’ve met Beth Baldwin and had a discussion with her son, Peter. And as you rightly pointed out, the delivery plan recognises the need to improve type 1 detection and symptom awareness. And there are measures we’re looking to undertake with community pharmacies for the role they have to play in opportunistic testing. I’d be very grateful if you could write to me with details of the campaign awareness launch event that you referred to.

I’m thinking about the contribution made by Caroline, from UKIP, of course, and I’m pleased with the recognition of improvement that was in her contribution and also the need for more. But I would again say, gently but clearly, that learning about a healthy diet is in each one of our schools. There’s a very, very clear message, particularly in primary schools, that any of us who visit a primary school would recognise about healthy eating. It goes back to this point that there are different measures that take place outside the school gates and set the pattern for what people think and consider to be normal in terms of healthy eating and learning.

Thinking about Nathan Gill’s very interesting contribution, I am aware of the study you referred to. What I would say is that, as well as awareness of that, we already have the most significant evidence of the impact of healthier behaviour in Wales, and that exists from Wales, and it’s the Caerphilly study. That cohort of people—it’s an amazing wealth of information about the importance of managing diet, exercise, alcohol and smoking, and if we’re not able to tackle hose four big behaviour challenges—not just in this area, but in many others—we’ll have a less healthy population, it’ll be more expensive to keep unhealthy for longer, more pain and discomfort for those people, and more economic challenges as well. This is one of those areas where we see that being played out and made real.

So, I’m happy to continue to say that we need to deliver that behaviour change with our citizens—it’s not about lecturing or attempting to shame people, but working alongside them to encourage and actually to deliver some of that change, and all the measures for the compulsion and requirement, as well as that encouragement and empowerment of the citizen as well, and their own responsibility. So, I’m happy to commit to the continued improvement in the way in which we tackle the treatment and care of people with diabetes and prevention, as well as the transparency in our progress. This is not a party-political issue in so many ways, as the debate today recognises, but it really is a national issue of national importance for all of us.