Parliamentary Search

Written question asked by Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 2 March 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 5 March 2026 (named day). A holding answer was provided on Friday, 6 March 2026. A substantive answer was provided by Karin Smyth (Labour) on Monday, 30 March 2026 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Insulin: Safety

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department provides to integrated care boards on supporting vulnerable people, including those with mental health conditions, cognitive impairment or learning disabilities, to safely self-administer insulin.

Answer

Improving the integration between community mental health services and other physical health services and meeting the holistic needs of people with severe mental health problems is a priority, as set out in the Community Mental Health Framework.

Recognising the continued need to further support services to provide high quality personalised care for all patients needing secondary mental health services, including those with diabetes, NHS England has shared new draft guidance with systems, the Mental Health Personalised Care Framework, which sets out how services must effectively assess, plan, and manage people's care in collaboration with all relevant teams, including how they assess safety and risks of harm.

The Health Services Safety Investigation Body recently published a report Insulin: supporting safe self-administration for patients in the community with a mental health problem, which recommended that NHS England and the Department develop a strategy for improving collaboration between mental health teams and specialist diabetes services. A formal response to this recommendation will be published in May 2026.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
116893
Session
2024-26
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Insulin Safety
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk