The campaign to save Scotland’s artificial pancreas funding
Diabetes Scotland and over 120 organisations wrote to the First Minister urging them to reinstate national funding for hybrid closed loop systems.
If you use a hybrid closed loop system in Scotland, or you are hoping to, here is where things stand, and it is not a reason to worry about your own care today. In May 2026 Diabetes Scotland, backed by more than 120 organisations, wrote an open letter to the First Minister and the Health Secretary asking them to reinstate national funding for these systems. A hybrid closed loop, sometimes called an artificial pancreas, is an insulin pump and a glucose sensor that talk to each other and adjust your background insulin automatically. This is a funding and access story, not a change to anyone’s treatment.
- The letter asks ministers to bring back national funding and to publish a plan so access does not become a postcode lottery, meaning it depends on where you live.
- If you already use one of these systems, the campaign changes nothing for you: you keep your system and your care carries on.
- A hybrid closed loop still needs you. You count carbs and dose for meals; it automates the background insulin, not the whole job.
- The worry being raised is about new starts. Without central funding, whether someone can get one may come down to their local health board.
- Nothing here is a medical emergency or a reason to change anything you do day to day.
What the open letter actually asks for
In May 2026, Diabetes Scotland and more than 120 other organisations put their names to an open letter to the Scottish Government. It follows the earlier decision to withdraw central funding for hybrid closed loop systems, a decision campaigners say risks unpicking the progress made in getting this technology to people with Type 1.
The ask is specific, and it is about fairness rather than any one product. Campaigners want ministers to reinstate national funding, and to publish a clear delivery plan so that access is consistent across the country rather than depending on which health board you happen to fall under. In plain terms: keep paying for it centrally, and set out how everyone eligible gets a fair shot at it.
What this means whether you have one or are waiting
If you already use a hybrid closed loop, the most important thing to hear is that this does not touch you. Your system stays, your supplies continue, and your appointments carry on as normal. The campaign is about future funding, not about taking devices back from people who have them.
If you are hoping to start one, this is the part campaigners are worried about. When funding is decided board by board rather than nationally, access can drift into a postcode lottery, where two people with the same needs get different answers depending on their address. You are not powerless here. You can back Diabetes Scotland’s campaign, and you can write to your own MSP about what steadier glucose and fewer severe lows would mean for your life. Personal stories are often what shifts these decisions.