It is the responsibility of NHS England to ensure that commissioners and providers make insulin pumps available for those people with diabetes who meet the criteria recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

NICE 2008 guidance recommends pump therapy as an option for adults and children over the age of 12 years with Type 1 diabetes, provided that multiple-daily insulin therapy has failed. It also recommends that insulin pump therapy can be used for children younger than 12 years with Type 1 diabetes, provided specific criteria are met.

Insulin pump therapy is not appropriate for everyone as it requires self-management and regular close monitoring. People who commence insulin pumps need to have a detailed structured education programme and good clinical support to maintain and support them on this therapy. All decisions about insulin pump therapy must be made in consultation between the patient (and/or their parents or carer) and their health care professional.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued technology appraisal guidance (TA151, June 2008) which recommends continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII or 'insulin pump') therapy as a treatment option for adults and children with type 1 diabetes mellitus, subject to certain clinical criteria. The therapy is not recommended for the treatment of people with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

For patients not covered by NICE'S recommendations, funding decisions should be made by the relevant national health service commissioner based on an assessment of the available evidence.

Prior to April 2013, primary care trusts were responsible for dealing with individual funding requests and information on individual funding request decisions was not collected centrally.

From April 2013, NHS England assumed responsibility for commissioning specialist endocrinology and diabetes services for children and young people and insulin-resistant diabetes services for adults and children, with clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) responsible for commissioning other diabetes services for adults.

We are advised by NHS England that information on the number of individual funding requests for the funding of insulin pump therapy made to NHS England and CCGs is not collected centrally.