Milton Keynes University Hospital and Council team up on innovative trial scheme to tackle diabetes

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Milton Keynes City Council and Milton Keynes University Hospital (MKUH) have announced a research trial to promote and incentivise physical activity amongst residents with Type 2 diabetes, which affects more than 17,000 people across Milton Keynes.

The scheme, which is funded by the NHS, will test out how wearable devices can record participant movement, and how potentially, a mobile app could offer tailored prompts and hints to be physically active. Further incentives are being considered such as vouchers for meeting physical activity goals.

Type 2 diabetes can cause significant health problems and has a huge resource impact on the NHS and social care system. Regular physical activity is proven to be an important part of managing diabetes to help reduce complications and treatment costs. The Milton Keynes trial will help health and council partners around the UK determine whether adopting their own version of the scheme will help patients and reduce long term costs.

A formal decision to progress the trial was made by Milton Keynes City Council yesterday evening (10 January). The next step is to commission a developer and the trial will launch later this year.

“This is an incredibly exciting opportunity to better understand how technology will allow our local community to have greater transparency over their treatment and condition. Through enabling individuals to be directly involved in their care, we can help to avoid unnecessary admissions into hospital and ensure more of our community remains happy and healthy.”
- Professor Joe Harrison, Chief Executive of MKUH
“Our local partnership is taking diabetes seriously and through this innovative trial scheme we see a huge opportunity to prevent disease and disability and improve quality of life for residents. This is about helping people to take more control of their lives, enabling them to make informed decisions and choices. It will help not just in the treatment of diabetes, but to improve the overall health and wellbeing of those involved.”
- Cllr Jane Carr, Cabinet Member for Tackling Social Inequalities