NHS England has announced that genetic testing on the NHS will spot a rare form of diabetes in thousands of people unaware they are living with the disease, alongside a new training scheme for staff.

Being rolled out across England, the test can also spot whether people have passed the affected gene on to their children, while the health service is training hundreds of staff across the country to be experts in the rare condition. NHS trusts in England will be supported to put in place a team of monogenic diabetes experts to support patients – with up to 280 staff to be trained over the next year.

Known as monogenic diabetes, around 12,000 people in England are thought to have the condition, which if left undetected can mean patients struggle to manage glucose levels. Most patients newly diagnosed with monogenic diabetes will be able to manage their condition better by taking tablets or by diet to control their glucose levels instead of having to endure often unnecessary and time-consuming insulin injections.

The condition makes up one in fifty diabetes cases, but it is difficult to diagnose or distinguish from the more common types of the condition – type 1 or type 2 diabetes.

Professor Partha Kar, NHS national speciality advisor for diabetes, said: “We are already making progress against the goals set out in the NHS Long Term Plan for better diabetes care, and the rollout of this programme will mean more patients across the country will benefit from access to specialist genetic testing and optimised treatment.

“Monogenic diabetes is difficult to diagnose, and we will more easily be able to identify those who need to be referred for genetic testing by training teams on monogenic diabetes in each Trust.

“The NHS has long been at the forefront of clinical advances in care for major diseases like diabetes – being able to spot the condition from birth is just another example of how we are helping people with the condition to live longer and healthier lives.”