Changes to measures for NHS England commissioning recommendations for blood glucose testing strips and lancets

We’ve updated the methods for our blood glucose testing strips and lancets measures to better reflect changing recommendations over time. They are already live - have a look at blood glucose testing strips and lancets measures for your organisation now!

NHS England commissioning recommendations

NHS England first published commissioning recommendations for blood glucose testing strips and lancets in April 2023. These recommendations were informed by a clinically led national assessment to understand which products best meet the needs of people living with diabetes, while also providing good value for the NHS.

There have been periodic updates to the guidelines over time with some products being removed and some new products added to the recommended list. At the time of writing the latest version is version 5 - published September 2025.

Updates to measure methodology

Our original measure was designed to track prescribing of products that are currently recommended. However, NHS England has made a number of changes to the recommended products across successive versions of the commissioning guidance. Applying the latest recommendations retrospectively to historical prescribing data could therefore give a misleading picture.

We have moved to a revised methodology which assesses prescribing against the recommendations that were in place at the time. This means the measure now tracks recommended products over the period for which each version of the guidance was valid.

As a consequence of the change in methodology you might notice small changes in the historical data for your organisation. We believe the new method provides a more accurate view of prescribing behaviour over time.

Get in touch

We’re always keen to hear from you, whether you have an idea for a measure, or if you think something could be better. You can do this by dropping us an email to bennett@phc.ox.ac.uk.