Pioneering diabetes research launched in West Berkshire

Dr Tim Walter, who is leading the pioneering scheme, has received funding from Newbury and District Clinical Commissioning group to be able to run the programme across West Berkshire, as well as a £10,000 grant from general practice database QResearch to fund the project.
The Falkland Surgery GP said that the project was not about people who already suffered from the condition, but about those who were identified as high risk and had a likelihood of developing it in the next 20 to 30 years.
He said: “One of the messages is that most people can avoid type two diabetes if they make sufficient changes to their lifestyle. Up to 70 per cent of cases can be avoided.
“Diabetes can be in people’s systems for about five to 10 years before the symptoms start to show – we know the process has started.
“The project is going to see whether we can identify people 10 years before they develop it and try to stop them developing it.”
Using computer software, the surgery is able to identify these people with the information that they already have on their patients. Looking at those between the ages of 35 to 75, as it is a condition mostly found in middle-aged and older people, it will look at their height, weight and family history.
People identified as those with more than a 30 per cent chance of getting the condition in the next 10-years have been sent a letter inviting them to join one of the Eat4Health weight-loss programmes.
The software has been installed in Newbury, Kintbury and Woolton Hill, surgeries, and all others in West Berkshire are due to be installed within the next three to six months.
Dr Walter said: “Nobody in the world has done what we are doing here. It’s a first. We are trying to create a template for others to follow.
“When we started the pilot, people went into it rather pessimistic, but when they came out they were enthused.”
He said they could not force people into make lifelong changes to their lifestyle but that the programme was about giving people the tools to make the changes.
He said: “We have to sow the seed; we have to give people a bit of understanding and a bit of enthusiasm to help themselves.
“We cannot make people take exercise. It’s not going to give people a cure, it’s going to give them the idea that they can then take away and try out for themselves.
“Nothing is going to be a quick fix. We hope we can give them the tools that they can then take away."It is a three or four-month process and then a lifetime there after.”
Dr Walter emphasised that the programme was for invitees only and was encouraged people who had been sent invitation letters to get in contact with their surgery and join the programme.