The NHS in England offers an artificial pancreas to help manage type 1 diabetes | diabetes

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More than 100,000 people with type 1 diabetes will be offered an artificial pancreas in England, which experts believe could become the ‘holy grail’ for managing the disease.

The pioneering device uses an algorithm to determine how much insulin to give and reads blood sugar levels to keep them steady.

A world first trial on the NHS found that it was more effective in managing diabetes than existing devices and required far less input from patients. The device is now set to be rolled out across the NHS in England after receiving approval from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

Mark Chapman, Interim Director of Medical Technology in Nice, said: “Some people with type 1 diabetes struggle with managing their condition, even though they are doing everything the diabetes team tells them to do. This technology is the best intervention to help them get their diabetes under control, Except for treatment.”

In draft guidance published on Tuesday, an independent commission in Nice recommended its use to manage blood glucose levels in people struggling to manage type 1 diabetes. This technology allows the patient to go about their daily life without having to monitor whether their blood glucose levels are too high or too low.

Pregnant women are also eligible, as blood glucose levels are more difficult to control during this time. In total, the technology is set to be offered to around 105,000 people in England.

Charlotte Abbott Pierce with the innovative device. Image: NHS

Managing type 1 diabetes can be challenging, especially in young children, due to differences in insulin levels required and an unpredictability about how much patients eat and exercise. Children are especially at risk of dangerously low (hypoglycemia) and high (hypoglycemia) blood sugar levels, which can lead to body damage or even death.

An artificial pancreas is worn next to the body. It continuously monitors blood glucose levels and automatically adjusts insulin delivered via a pump.

It also eliminates the need for finger prick tests to check blood sugar levels to prevent episodes of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia.

The Nice draft recommendations require NHS England to agree a cost-effective price for the device on behalf of the relevant health bodies. Currently, the average annual cost of the technology is £5,744, which is higher than what Nys considers a cost-effective use of NHS resources.

Although most of the estimated £10 billion annual NHS spending on diabetes goes to type 2 diabetes, it is hoped the devices can help cut costs by ensuring less interventions are needed in type 1 cases.

“Our panel has reviewed real-world data generated by the NHS and evidence from randomized controlled trials that show there are clear benefits to recommending the use of the technology,” Chapman said. “We look forward to working with NHS England and industry to ensure we reach a cost-effective rate that is fair to taxpayers.”

Professor Partha Carr, Diabetes National Specialist Adviser for NHS England, said: “This technology has been shown to provide the best control for managing type 1 diabetes and should make things like amputations, blindness and kidney problems a thing of the past.”

Carr, who previously described the device as “not too far from the holy grail of a fully automated system,” added: “We’ve seen fantastic results from the real-world experiments that have been conducted. The quality of life that this technology gives to those who use it is phenomenal.”

Six-year-old Charlotte Abbott Pierce was one of the first recipients of an artificial pancreas.

“Before the hybrid closed-loop system was installed, my husband and I would wake up every two hours every night to have to check Charlotte’s blood sugar, most of the time we would give insulin, and sometimes we would do finger pricks or deal with ketones because of the rapid rise in blood sugar,” her mother said. Dr. Angie Abbott Pearce told The Guardian last year that the new system was “a godsend to us because we were at our wits’ end with anxiety, not being able to catch up on rebounding before they became dangerous.”

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