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You have to be careful nowadays – the main two corners of NHS emotions either centre around doom and gloom, deep from the bowels of Mordor... or happy, shiny positive change things – where unicorns gently glide over sparkly rainbows – and you have to be careful not to be sucked into either of those – as the reality of the NHS continues to be somewhere in between.

Mostly average to good care – spattered with examples of excellence and blighted by occasions of poor care – what we learn from either of those – again – is variable at best – but that pretty much in a nutshell is where we are.

However, all said and done, what I am seeing now is a situation I at least have not witnessed before. There are many merits to the discussion about family structures and what support children offer (or don't) to their parents – and perhaps much of that has been masked by the social support provided by the State... but we are now in different times.

Hospitals are now having greater numbers of patients inside hospitals waiting for "something". Bed blockers is a reprehensible term – one to be condemned to the history books – and the dissolution of social care is now having a domino effect on many a services. To read more, click here. 

People who use Insuman pre-filled pens and cartridges have been warned of a temporary supply shortage of the products. To read more, click here. 

Regularly standing up or walking could help prevent women who are at high risk of type 2 diabetes from developing the condition, according to a new study.

Currently, those at risk of type 2 are advised to engage in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) for at least 150 minutes per week. To read more, click here. 

The president of Diabetes UK is stepping down after a decade of campaigning for the charity.

Richard Lane OBE, who underwent the UK’s first fully successful islet cell transplant in 2004, began volunteering with the charity because it had funded the research behind the pioneering treatment. To read more, click here. 

A diabetes charity has issued dietary tips for people with the condition throughout Christmas.

The InDependent Diabetes Trust (IDDT) has published the calorie and carbohydrate content of festive meals people are likely to eat over the Christmas season. To read more, click here. 

The presence of certain bacteria in the gut may be linked to the development of type 2 diabetes, according to new research.

Researchers believe diabetes may be linked to the composition of the ‘microbial community’ living inside our intestines, known as the intestinal microbiota. To read more, click here. 

A total of 1,000 people every year in Durham will be offered a chance to change their lives and avoid developing type 2 diabetes in a new scheme to target people at high risk.

The Just Beat It Programme sees people offered long term help with diet and high intensity exercise to reduce their chances of getting it and reduce the burden of diabetes on the NHS.

To read more, click here.