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Let's say you have diabetes. Or someone you care about or look after has diabetes. How do you know the person looking after you is trained in it? To be more accurate, if you are referred to a hospital team, how do you know they are any good? Assume? Accept that it's the only place around to go to? Challenge your GP? Go online to find out? Think about it, is there any data or information out there at all?

So let me begin with an acknowledgement to a gentleman called Jens Berkenheim. A mountain of a man but with the most pleasant personality ever, with a grin forever etched on his face. I can't quite recall how we met but I haven't forgotten his sheer energy and desire to improve type 1 diabetes care.

He simply wanted to know the questions I put above. And he tried... I could only support him in those days as a clinician from Portsmouth verbally and there has always been a lingering frustration that I couldn't do more. And frankly, Jens has met many a closed door. Who wants to share their data with a member of the public? Blasphemy. To read more, click here. 

Flash glucose-sensing technology used for glycaemic management in those with type 2 diabetes on insulin can help reduce hypoglycaemia, new research has shown.

The open-label, randomised, controlled study also showed that the technology could also “safely and effectively” replace self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG).

To read more, click here. 

Information on diabetes care delivered by GPs will be available in a new NHS data hub by the autumn.

NHS Digital’s GP Data Hub will pull together official figures from practices across England over the next six months. To read more, click here. 

Lucentis® has become the only drug available in the US market which can be used to manage the diabetic eye condition with or without diabetic macular edema (DME), it has been announced.

The monthly ranibizumab injection has now been approved to treat all forms of diabetic retinopathy after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave it the stamp of approval. To read more, click here. 

Watching short health information films online can help people living with type 2 diabetes reduce their HbA1c levels, according to new research.

The study, which was carried out by Swansea University, has shown that there were clinically significant improvements in people’s HbA1c levels after they had viewed a series of short films called Living with Diabetes which are accessible via a computer, tablet or smartphone. To read more, click here. 

The misconception that type 1 diabetes can be avoided by leading a healthy lifestyle is one of the most common misunderstandings healthcare professionals must deal with, according to a new study.

Developed in collaboration with healthcare professionals in the UK and Spain, a study of 50,000 social media posts by more than 7,000 UK healthcare professionals was conducted. To read more, click here. 

A new tool for healthcare professionals to help support people with diabetes who are feeling emotionally low or depressed has been launched. 

The Mood Information Prescription, developed by Diabetes UK, helps start a structured conversation between a healthcare professional and an anxious person with diabetes. To read more, click here.