More weight-loss drugs offered in type 2 diabetes care shake-up

Having type 2 diabetes means there is too much glucose or sugar in the blood. This makes strokes, heart attacks, heart failure and other health conditions much more of a risk. It is now so common that 10% of the NHS budget goes towards treating it.

NICE, which produces guidance for the NHS on how to give patients the best care, recommends a move away from a "one size fits all" approach and towards more personalised treatment.

It is calling for newer diabetes medicines called SGLT-2 inhibitors, which protect the heart and kidneys as well as lowering blood sugar levels, to become the first-choice treatment for all diabetes patients. Around 2.3 million people will be eligible for these drugs.

Some 22,000 lives could be saved if 90% of all diabetes patients were prescribed them, NICE says, but access is not equal across the UK. There is evidence that women, older people and black people are less likely to be prescribed them.

"There is some urgency to find ways to increase the uptake of SGLT-2 inhibitors because if we were to achieve perfect uptake, the nation would be significantly healthier," said Dr Waqaar Shah, chair of the guideline committee.

Only one in five people with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease are currently prescribed the medicines.

Prescribing the tablets to more people would particularly benefit those living in poorer areas and ethnic minorities, NICE says.