Funding so all infants are offered Type 1 Diabetes Testing in routine care
This petition gathered 121,152 signatures between 20 June 2025 and 20 December 2025, according to the Parliament petitions site. The Government responded on 17 July 2025. MPs debated it in Westminster Hall on 9 March 2026.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
Funding so all infants are offered Type 1 Diabetes Testing in routine care
Fund mandatory offer of testing for Type 1 Diabetes in babies, toddlers, and young children as a routine part of medical assessments at the point of care.
We believe that lives could be saved by doing this. Too many children are misdiagnosed, and this can tragically lead to loss of life.
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 17 July 2025; the petitions site lists the Department of Health and Social Care as responsible. Its summary:
NHS England provides diabetes care in children. Due to insufficient evidence supporting routine mandatory testing for paediatric type 1 diabetes it has no plans to introduce this at the current time.
The response in full:
Type 1 diabetes is diagnosed with a blood test that checks blood glucose (sugar) levels. It is the responsibility of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to provide guidance and quality standards on the treatment and care of diabetes in England. NICE NG18 guideline for type 1 and 2 diabetes provides clinical guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment and care of children and young people. It states that clinicians should be aware of the signs of type 1 diabetes in children and young people, including:
• hyperglycaemia
• polyuria (passing urine more often)
• polydipsia (excess thirst)
• weight loss
• excessive tiredness.
NG18 also recommends that children and young people with suspected type 1 diabetes are referred immediately (on the same day) to a multidisciplinary paediatric diabetes team with the competencies needed to confirm diagnosis and provide immediate care.
NHS England is not aware of there being any evidence for the feasibility and effectiveness of the mandatory offer of testing for type 1 diabetes in babies, toddlers, and young children as a routine part of medical assessments.
NHS England works closely with research charity Diabetes UK which has worked to raise public and health care professional awareness of the common symptoms of type 1 diabetes, known as the 4Ts: Toilet, Thirsty, Tired and Thinner. Further information of this campaign can be found here:https://www.diabetes.org.uk/about-diabetes/type-1-diabetes/symptoms
Early identification of type 1 diabetes through screening for antibodies prior to the onset of physical symptoms can provide clinical benefits, including helping to prevent diagnosis at the point of diabetic keto-acidosis (DKA). However, there is not currently a national screening programme in England.
The UK National Screening Committee advises the NHS on screening programmes and, in 2019 concluded that more research and evidence for the benefits of screening for autoimmune type 1 diabetes was required.
A National Institute for Healthcare Research-funded study called ELSA (EarLy Surveillance for Autoimmune diabetes) is currently underway in England exploring the feasibility and benefits of screening in children aged 3 to 13. NHS England is working closely with researchers and leading experts in this field to ensure that emerging evidence is considered in the development of future national guidance and is reviewed ahead of further decisions on the availability of screening.
Department of Health and Social Care
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 650 constituencies. Measured against each constituency's electorate at the 2024 general election, the most came from Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham, with 31.3 signatures per 1,000 electors (2,356 in all).
120,357 of the signatures were from the UK and 795 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures | Electorate, July 2024 | Per 1,000 electors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham | 2,356 | 75,280 | 31.3 |
| Kingston upon Hull East | 2,000 | 70,650 | 28.3 |
| Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice | 1,615 | 73,252 | 22.0 |
| Beverley and Holderness | 846 | 71,994 | 11.8 |
| Goole and Pocklington | 578 | 79,925 | 7.2 |
| Bridgwater | 457 | 71,571 | 6.4 |
| Bridlington and The Wolds | 466 | 74,438 | 6.3 |
| Na h-Eileanan an Iar | 134 | 21,325 | 6.3 |
| Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes | 475 | 76,157 | 6.2 |
| Widnes and Halewood | 419 | 70,161 | 6.0 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 17,959 |
| North West | 15,731 |
| South East | 14,401 |
| East of England | 11,171 |
| Scotland | 10,108 |
| South West | 9,980 |
| West Midlands | 9,609 |
| East Midlands | 8,565 |
| London | 7,165 |
| Wales | 6,299 |
| North East | 5,676 |
| Northern Ireland | 2,692 |
Debate in Parliament
MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on 9 March 2026. Read the debate in Hansard. House of Commons Library debate pack.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/728677.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
4aa0a07e98281d5a… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.