Email your diabetes stories to editor Oliver Jelley.

Join the expanding diabetes community on Twitter and follow us for the latest diabetes news updates at @DiabetesTimes.

Erwin Castro is the first diabetes specialist nurse to take part in our DSN Spotlight feature. 

He explains what his biggest challenge has been throughout his 10 year career as a DSN and what he thinks needs to change in order to deliver better diabetes care.

To read the feature, click here.

Inadequate. Depends on how you look at it, isn't it? Depends on how you react to it. The Care Quality Commission came to our Trust and rated the Urgent & Emergency services as inadequate.

Cue the predictable response. Listening to the media is a waste of time - as gone are the days of Walter Cronkite, Edward Murrow et al. We now live in the era of click-bait.

Upstarts chasing bad stories, leaking salacious details is all what it's about. Change the system? Don't be silly - it's about the personality - damn the consequence of the shattered lives one feeds on or even leaves behind. So let's forget about them - it matters how one looks at it.

Funnily enough, as with most things, diabetes care has "led" the way - and on a personal level, had faced the sharp end of it back in 2010.

We were one of the, (or was it "the"?) worst in regards to amputation rates. I learnt quickly - whatever you said would be seen as being defensive. I still recall the sarcasm laced comments from those in better positions than us, but you learn... you learn to accept it for what it is and you work at it with your team to make it better.

Six years later, much to do? Yes, but have we moved on? I think we have.

So back to the CQC… rile at them, be angry at them and indeed there are many views as regards their use, motives or indeed existence.

To read more, click here. 

A charity is using Diabetes Week to highlight the issues people in Syria with type 1 diabetes face.

T1International works with people around the world to ensure everyone receives access to diabetes supplies. To read more, click here. 

A link has been found between a type 2 diabetes drug and a higher risk of amputation, research has shown.

Scientists discovered a link between the usage of NICE-recommended canagliflozin to treat the condition and an increase in lower-limb amputations. To read more, click here. 

Almost a quarter of a million people have been diagnosed with diabetes in the last year largely down to a rise in type 2, Diabetes UK has announced.

The charity has published the figures – which show there were 235,000 people diagnosed with diabetes in the last year – to mark Diabetes Week, which runs until Saturday, June 18. To read more, click here. 

A new type of liver-selective glucokinase activator (GKA) has shown improved glycaemic control and insulin resistance in people with type 2 diabetes.

The findings, which were presented at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) 76th Scientific Sessions in New Orleans, showed the effectiveness of Jardiance®. To read more, click here. 

A new resource hub has been released by Novo Nordisk to support people with diabetes. To read more, click here. 

I am realising that writing a blog is an opportunity for self-reflection.

In Diabetes UK’s publication: Improving the Delivery of Adult Diabetes Care Through Integration it says: "The need to join up health services to centre around patients rather than the needs of the system is increasingly recognised in national policy." To read more, click here. 

Adults with type 1 diabetes are being invited to “speak openly” about their experiences of the condition at a special event next week.

Diabetes UK is hosting an event for anyone over the age of 18 in an attempt to tackle type 1 diabetes head-on. To read more, click here. 

Fundraisers will walk, run or cycle 14-miles in an attempt to raise money for a Northamptonshire-based charity.

More than 30 people are expected to take part in the July event in a bid to generate funds for the InDependent Diabetes Trust (IDDT). To read more, click here.