Revealed: Huge impact of diabetes blight on the Black Country

Millions is being spent treating the condition, which can often be caused by obesity.

It has sparked fears services being put under increasing pressure by the health issues associated with it.

And experts say the NHS could even be bankrupted if the issue is not tackled.

Sandwell has the second highest proportion of adults with diabetes in England, at 8.8 per cent, and Walsall is third with 8.7 per cent.

Wolverhampton is 12th with 7.9 per cent. The numbers have increased every year since 2010.

And diabetes care is costing up to £360 per patient a year in the region.

In Sandwell, some £11.6m was spent on diabetes medication in 2014/15 - which is 13.4 per cent of cash spent on all prescription drugs. This is the eighth highest in the country.

And 12.6 per cent of Wolverhampton CCG's budget went on treating the condition, at £5.7m. This equates to £20.54 for every patient treated.

Dudley has 6.8 per cent of adults with diabetes, compared to seven per cent in Cannock Chase.

A total of £5.6m, or 10 per cent of the budget, was shelled out on care for diabetes last year, while that figure was £2.7m or 11.4 per cent in Cannock. Walsall bosses spent £5.2m, which was 10.2 per cent of the total.

Across the country i 2014/15 there were 47.2 million items prescribed for diabetes at a cost of £868.6 million.

Barbara Young, chief executive of Diabetes UK, said: "Diabetes already costs the NHS nearly £10bn a year, and 80 per cent of this is spent on managing avoidable complications. So there is huge potential to save money and reduce pressure on NHS hospitals and services through providing better care to prevent people with diabetes from developing devastating and costly complications.

"The NHS must prioritise providing better care, along with improved and more flexible education options, for people with diabetes now, and give them the best possible chance of living long and healthy lives. Until then, avoidable human suffering will continue and the costs of treating diabetes will continue to spiral out of control and threaten to bankrupt the NHS. Now is the time for action."