Health conditions and health care
Diabetes
Diabetes mellitus is a common chronic disease that significantly affects the health of people. It may lead to a range of complications that can cause disability and reduce the quality of life as well as the life expectancy. Diabetes constitutes a significant health and social burden in the community.
The estimated diagnosed prevalence of diabetes in Southwark is 5.9%, however, a significant proportion of people live with undiagnosed diabetes. Public Health England estimates that as many as 8,000 Southwark residents (3.2%) may have undiagnosed diabetes and further 25,700 (10.2%) are at increased risk of developing diabetes.
A large proportion of type 2 diabetes cases are preventable. Simple lifestyle measures such as maintaining normal body weight, engaging in regular physical activity, and eating a healthy diet can reduce the risk of diabetes. Southwark is one of 12 demonstrator sites nationwide to test the innovative diabetes prevention programme, which offers tailored, personalised help to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes including education on healthy eating and lifestyle, help to lose weight and bespoke physical exercise programmes.
Southwark Public Health together with key partners and stakeholders have produced a number of documents identifying the local population needs. Please note that this list will be updated as and when the new information becomes available.
Southwark JSNA reports
- Long Term Conditions JSNA 2018 (PDF, 854kb)
- Multiple Long Term Conditions in Southwark 2018 (PDF, 706kb)
Other local plans and strategies
- National Diabetes Prevention Programme in Southwark
- Southwark Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2015-2020 (PDF, 1.1mb)
- Southwark five year forward view 2016/17 to 2020/21
- Southwark’s primary and community care strategy 2013/14 to 2017/18
- NHS Southwark CCG, CVD Primary Care Intelligence Packs 2017
External resources
Page last updated: 01 September 2023
