Top picks: 12 key resources about diabetes

Summary

At Patient Safety Learning we believe that sharing insights and learning is vital to improving outcomes and reducing harm. That's why we created the hub; to provide a space for people to come together and share their experiences, resources and good practice examples.

We’ve selected twelve useful resources about diabetes. Self-management is perhaps the most important aspect of treating diabetes effectively, so we've included some resources aimed at helping patients manage their diabetes too.

Diabetes is a condition that causes the amount of glucose in a person's blood to be too high. When you have type 1 diabetes, your body can’t make any insulin at all, whereas with type 2, you either can’t make enough insulin, or it can’t work properly. There are also other types of diabetes including gestational diabetes, which some women develop during pregnancy, maturity onset diabetes of the young (MODY) and latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA). It is important that people with diabetes are supported to maintain good blood glucose control through diet, insulin and other diabetes medications, to prevent both acute and long-term complications,

Content

1 D-coded diabetes

D-coded diabetes is a tool that aims to simplify complex research studies about diabetes making the science accessible to everyone living with the condition. It uses simple language and images to explain the methodology and results of studies and trials.

2 Leading for patient safety: a conversation with Partha Kar

Partha Kar, National Specialty Advisor for NHS England, has led work that has had an enormous impact for patients and for patient safety. In this video podcast, Steph O'Donohue from Patient Safety Learning talks to Partha about his leadership style and how it has helped him drive forward significant change in an often challenging context. 

3 D1abasics: Equipping staff to care safely for inpatients with diabetes

The inpatient diabetes team at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust recently launched D1abasics, an initiative that aims to improve inpatient care for people with diabetes. In this blog, Diabetes Consultant Mayank Patel and Inpatient Diabetes Specialist Nurse Paula Johnston outline the approach and explain how it will equip staff across all specialties with the basic knowledge to care safely for people with diabetes in hospital.

4 Improving diabetes care in inpatient mental health settings

Despite the prevalence of diabetes amongst individuals with Serious Mental Illness (SMI), diabetes care is not currently audited within mental health inpatient settings as it audited in physical health settings. This project piloted an audit to assess the diabetes care within London NHS Mental Health Trusts.

5 NHS England - Language Matters: language and diabetes

The language that healthcare professionals use to talk about diabetes can have a profound impact on how people living with diabetes, and those who care for them, experience their condition and feel about living with it. This guidance by NHS England sets out practical examples of language that will encourage positive interactions with people living with diabetes. When people with diabetes feel encouraged and empowered to manage their condition, it has been shown to make a difference to their health outcomes. The examples in ‘Language Matters’ are based on research and supported by a simple set of principles.

6 Key things to remember if you use injectable medication to treat your diabetes

This checklist by TREND Diabetes outlines the steps patients should take to ensure they inject their insulin or other diabetes medication correctly. It explains the importance of taking steps such as moving injection sites and changing needles, and outlines how failing to do this can affect blood glucose control.

7 Improving safety for diabetic inpatients: 4 key steps

In this video, Partha Kar, National Specialty Advisor for Diabetes, shares four steps to improve safety for inpatients with diabetes, based on information from the National Diabetes Inpatient Audit. He also highlights key resources to help staff improve their knowledge of diabetes and understand how to offer the safest care to people with diabetes when they are staying in hospital.

8 Diabetes technology is life-changing, but we need to be prepared when it fails

In this blog, Andrew Stroud talks about his family's experiences supporting their daughter, Bia, to manage her type 1 diabetes. He describes the huge value of technology in improving diabetes management and reducing the mental burden of the condition on people with diabetes and their parents and carers. However, like all technology, medical devices for diabetes can fail, and Andrew highlights the need to be prepared for this situation to ensure the person with diabetes is safe while they cannot use the devices they rely on every day.

9 How safe are closed loop artificial pancreas systems?

Closed-loop artificial pancreas systems are self-regulating systems for administering insulin to patients with type 1 diabetes. They allow for tighter blood glucose control and reduce the decision-making burden for people with diabetes. 

In this blog, Lotty Tizzard, Patient Safety Learning's Content and Engagement Manager, takes a look at the benefits and potential patient safety risks associated with closed-loop artificial pancreas systems (APS). People with diabetes have developed the algorithm that runs these systems and made it freely available to anyone wanting to build their own DIY artificial pancreas. This has spurred the medical tech industry to develop commercial systems, which will make the technology more widely available. But there are challenges in ensuring accessibility to all people with type 1 diabetes who would benefit from the technology, and there are questions about regulation and liability.

10 Diabetes UK - Diabetes care: Is it fair enough?

Missed checks, disrupted care and health inequalities have been revealed in this report from Diabetes UK looking at the state of diabetes care in England. It is calling for urgent action to this and sets out a series of recommendations for how this care crisis can be tackled. 

11 Case study: Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICS diabetes prevention programme 

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System (ICS) has achieved great results in supporting access to the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme. This case study outlines the approach taken by the ICS to improve access, what the outcomes were and key lessons learned.

12 Diabetes care during armed conflict

This article by the charity DiaTribe looks at the impact of armed conflict and displacement on people living with diabetes. 

Do you have a resource or story about diabetes to share? We’d love to hear about it - leave a comment below or join the hub to share your own post.