Summary

This report presents national level trends in prescribing for diabetes in England with information that illustrates the increasing prevalence of diabetes and obesity in England.

It looks at information on primary and secondary care prescribing for diabetes from 2002 to 2007 and highlights key issues for consideration. In parallel with the publication of this report, Dr Sue Roberts (national Clinical Director for diabetes) and the National Diabetes Support Team are keen to promote discussion within PCTs and SHAs around appropriate management and prescribing for people with diabetes.

Current PCT level prescribing data will be available to support discussions. The report has been produced jointly by the Information Centre and the Yorkshire and Humber Public Health Observatory

Key facts

• diabetes is a clinical area with high national expenditure. The growth in expenditure on prescribing for diabetes is greater than any other major clinical area
• the number of prescription items has increased by 55 per cent and the cost by 88 per cent from March 2002 to March 2007. The net ingredient cost for 2006 was £561.4 million, an increase of 13.6 per cent on 2005
• in 2006, 17.2 million prescriptions for oral anti-diabetic drugs were dispensed in primary care at a cost of £177.6 million. These are increases of 10.1 per cent and 29 per cent respectively on 2005
• in 2006, 4.9 million prescriptions for insulin were dispensed at a cost of £238.1 million. These are increases of 6.4 per cent and 11.5 per cent on 2005.