To ask the Minister of Health to detail the timescale for delivering an audit on prevalence of Diabetes, as exists in England and Wales.

The National Diabetes Audit (NDA) is a major national clinical audit, delivered by NHS Digital in partnership with Diabetes UK. The audit measures the effectiveness of diabetes healthcare and collects and analyses data to improve the quality of services and health outcomes for people with diabetes.

In Northern Ireland, the Diabetes Network, led by the Health and Social Care Board in partnership with the Public Health Agency and Diabetes UK (NI), brings together people living with diabetes, carers, health and social care professionals and clinicians to work in partnership on the design and delivery of better diabetes services.

The Diabetes Network is supportive of an audit in respect of diabetes in Northern Ireland. Network representatives met with representatives from Diabetes UK in July 2021 to discuss the National Diabetes Audit and data requirements. The Diabetes Network will continue to work with Diabetes UK to scope and consider what is possible to support an audit approach in Northern Ireland.

A National Diabetes Inpatient Audit was undertaken in November 2016 to measure the quality of diabetes care provided and patient experience for patients with diabetes in acute hospitals in Northern Ireland.

In terms of information on the prevalence of diabetes, disease prevalence data is produced and published each year by my Department’s Information and Analysis Directorate as part of the General Medical Services Quality and Outcomes Framework. This includes information on prevalence for Diabetes Mellitus and can be found at the link below.

2020/21 raw disease prevalence trend data for Northern Ireland | Department of Health (health-ni.gov.uk)