My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. There is an unfortunate blame culture and children can be quite cruel to each other at times; we, as adults,
must be careful about the language that we use about diabetes. If I achieve one thing in this place, I would like to get people to understand the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes—then I would feel as though I had achieved something.
Despite the growing public pressures associated with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, a person living with diabetes only spends, on average, three hours a year with a clinician. People with diabetes are often put under a great deal of stress, because of the challenges and complexity in managing the condition and the multiple day-to-day decisions they have to make. In order to allow them to develop the necessary skills to manage their own condition, further support is required—including, but by no means limited to, weight management support.
This debate is very timely and follows a meeting we held in parliament in June of this year, which was attended by the hon. Member for Strangford and my right hon. Friend the Member for Knowsley (Sir George Howarth), among other MPs. The meeting was about realising the potential of health coaches in diabetes care, which the hon. Member for Strangford has already mentioned, and it was supported by Roche Diabetes Care—although of course I have to say that other diagnostic companies are available.
The meeting heard from health coaches about how they support participants in a lifestyle management programme, using their professional expertise as qualified nutritionists to support people to better manage their weight.