OBJECTIVES: An objective of the INSTIGATE study is to describe the resource utilisation associated with care for type 2 diabetes in the 6 months before and after insulin initiation. This abstract presents data from patients enrolled in Germany and UK. METHODS: INSTIGATE is an ongoing prospective European observational study investigating patients with type 2 diabetes who have initiated insulin during usual care. Data on resource use for diabetes was collected at baseline retrospectively for the 6 months prior to initiating insulin and at 3 and 6 months following insulin initiation. RESULTS: In all, 509 patients were enrolled in Germany and UK. 6 month follow-up data was collected from 457 patients. The following changes in health care professional consultations were observed in the 6 months before and after insulin initiation: The % of patients with a visit to a primary care doctor declined from 93.4% to 83.7% in Germany, and in the UK from 79.4% to 48.2%. Visits to specialist nurses increased in Germany from 52.3% to 91.4%, and in the UK from 77.5% to 81.7 % of patients. In both countries the % of patients having phone calls with a specialist nurse increased; from 11.7% to 50.6% in Germany and from 21.3% to 75.9% in UK. The % of patients using a blood glucose monitor and the median weekly number of test strips used increased in both countries, most notably in Germany from 76.6% of patients testing 4 times a week before insulin initiation to 99.6% of patients testing 21 times per week 6 months after insulin initiation. CONCLUSION: The type of health care professionals visited and nature of the consultations changed in both countries following insulin initiation; the % of patients having visits to primary care providers decreased and the % of patients having visits and phone calls to specialist nurses increased.