The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. Artificial intelligence is beneficial: it can help where it can help. However, it is better for people to have the chance to talk to someone who can instruct them. I think probably we all want to talk to someone face to face, so we can understand the issues better.
An event that I attended here—with the hon. Member for Heywood and Middleton (Liz McInnes), I think—was about diabetes and also bariatric surgery. It may have been in the Thames Pavilion. I mention it because sometimes bariatric surgery may be the only way to reduce weight and enable someone to get to the other side, to address the issue of diabetes. That, as the right hon. Member for Knowsley said in his intervention, is something that people need to talk about. It needs to be discussed so they know what the options are. It is not for everyone, but it is for some people. A number of my constituents over the years have had that surgery and it has always been successful. It has reduced their weight in such a way as to control their diabetes. They are fortunate. Not everyone would have been able to have that surgical operation, but bariatric surgery is important.
To conclude, there is no one solution to diabetes prevention or management. Sometimes, no matter how well informed we are, diabetes can present new and potentially insurmountable challenges. I have some recommendations for the Minister. Primary prevention of type 2 diabetes should take a broad population approach, while ensuring that there is a range of programmes, including digital ones, so that no groups are excluded. There should be someone to speak to—access to someone to converse with who can advise and take things forward. Messaging should be varied and regularly re-evaluated, to ensure that there is engagement from
those subsets of the population at the highest risk of type 2 diabetes. We cannot ignore the issue of obesity and diabetes. That was referred to at business questions and will probably be referred to during Health questions on Tuesday.
Finally, a holistic approach should be taken to diabetes care both to ensure value for the individual and to maximise the benefits to the NHS. When we are dealing with the NHS we must look at the money we have to spend, and how to spend it better. Prevention and early diagnosis are among the ways to do that, and the area of type 1 diabetes technology is important. Over the years I have had a number of constituents under the age of 10 who had early-onset type 1 diabetes. I can picture some of their faces, as I speak. They will always have to manage their diabetes. Mine came about through bad diet and bad management, but for some people it is hereditary. I ask the Minister to ensure that the Department for Health and Social Care will continue to focus on the important issue of messaging, in relation to diabetes.
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