In 2016 we were proud to begin delivering NHS England’s Healthier You: Diabetes Prevention Programme (NHS DPP) in multiple regions. Since then, our Healthier You programmes have helped more than 149,000 people who have been identified as being at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes UK estimates there are 6.3 million people at increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes based on blood sugar levels. The disease is the leading cause of preventable sight loss in working-age people and a major contributor to kidney failure, heart attack and stroke. Treatment for the disease costs the NHS around £10bn a year – 9% of its entire budget – but support from Healthier You is helping reduce the number people developing the condition by 20% (NIHR, 2023).
Our Health Coaches guide participants using Healthier You them through a nine-month programme that helps them to understand the health risks of Type 2 diabetes, provide nutrition and physical activity guidance and teach them behaviour change techniques to help form healthy habits. The aim is to help them reduce their blood glucose levels and reduce their risk of developing the disease.
Research has shown that completing the Healthier You programme helps individuals cut their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by more than 30%. Our delivery holds a participant satisfaction rating of 4.8/5, averaged from more than 21,000 items of individual feedback.
In 2023, we were pleased to add a new service to our diabetes support offer – the NHS Type 2 Diabetes Path to Remission programme. This service supports people with a current diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes to achieve weight loss and a healthier lifestyle. It is based on research which shows this approach helps people to lose weight, improve their blood sugar levels and reduce diabetes-related medication. A recent study showed that as many as one in three (32%) individuals who completed the programme had put their Type 2 diabetes into remission, with an average weight loss of nearly 16kg.
Since beginning delivery of our first diabetes-related services in 2016, we have continually developed our offer to provide the best quality support to individuals trying to improve their health. We have adapted and expanded our approach to better reach those with a higher risk of developing diabetes, specifically those from disadvantaged areas and underrepresented communities.
For example, our Healthier You team in West Yorkshire identified that their local area has high levels of deprivation and a large South Asian population. To reach these groups the team developed new methods of outreach such as interacting with local GPs, community groups and faith spaces, and trialling tailored group sessions for Muslim women as well as Urdu-speaking sessions. They also ran additional evening sessions to accommodate the high number of shift workers in the region as well as those fasting during Ramadan.
Since implementing their tailored outreach and delivery approach, the Healthier You team in West Yorkshire saw a 20% increase in referrals to the service in January to April 2025 compared to the same timeframe in 2024.
To further support individuals to engage with the Healthier You service, we successfully implemented Proactive AI Agent (formerly ContactEngine) in our Contact Centre. Proactive AI Agent automatically contacts individuals via SMS and/or email with details of nearby courses, including route planning for each venue and an option to speak with one of our team members. Once a participant has booked onto a session, Proactive AI Agent sends an automatic reminder closer to the first session date to ensure they have all the information they need to attend.
Following the launch of Proactive AI Agent across all areas of our NDPP delivery in July 2024, we have seen an increase to 54% of people referred successfully starting the programme from more than 55,000 referrals.
These are just some examples of how our teams are continuously improving and adapting to provide the best possible support to people and their communities. As we look to the future, we remain dedicated to improving health outcomes and supporting individuals to lead longer, healthier lives.