12th edition – Friday, August 29, 2014

Web Version

Forward

TABLE OF CONTENTS

•

New annual diabetes checks proposed by NICE

•

Hospitals gearing up for Hypo Awareness Week

•

Diabetes UK hail 'historic landmark' for pupils

DO YOU HAVE A STORY TO TELL?

Get in touch

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.

Pied Pipers – Dr Partha Kar’s latest blog post

Fancy a trip in a time machine? Why indeed not? If you ask around, then most agree the past was better, something about the present never seems right, the oft quoted phrase…"In my days"...so hop on...and let's zoom back to 2004.

The venue: Royal College of General Practitioners. Occasion? Discussion of diabetes care. In the audience – the who's who of diabetes care, discussing how to improve diabetes care. And times were good...there was money in the system and there was, evidently, big need to improve diabetes care. There was a recurrent theme – it was time to break the stranglehold on diabetes care of the hospitals, the consultants.

I was there, a Junior Registrar – listening and trying to understand the politics of it all. And then it happened. A GP stood up, announced his title (quite impressive, more so perhaps he claimed or perhaps did have the ear to the "policy-makers") and said this.."I cannot see the point of having diabetes centres – all that resource should be in primary care". Lots of debate ensued but interestingly a lot of GPs in the room stayed silent...was silence a sign of acceptance? The revolution had begun. To read more, click here.

Online diabetes risk calculator developed

A new online tool will help doctors predict which patients are most likely to develop Type 2 diabetes.

The calculator will enable doctors to identify high-risk patients so that they can be tested for the disease and offered lifestyle advice. The test is targeted at people who have been admitted to hospital for emergency care. To read more, click here.

New annual diabetes checks proposed by NICE

A new series of annual checks to monitor and improve the health of people with diabetes are being proposed by health watchdog NICE for its latest Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) indicator menu.

The QOF is a voluntary incentive scheme for GP practices in the UK, rewarding them for how well they care for their patients, and helping them target resources for where they are most needed. It consists of groups of indicators against which practices score points according to their level of achievement.

NHS England, and health administrations from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, can use NICE’s QOF menu to determine which indicators are used within the QOF within their own countries.For the latest QOF menu, NICE propose a bundled indicator of eight checks for people with diabetes. To read more, click here.

Hospitals gearing up for Hypo Awareness Week

Almost 90 diabetes hospital teams have so far signed up to take part in Hypo Awareness Week 2014.

The aim of the week, which runs from September 29 to October 5, is to raise awareness of hypoglycaemia in the inpatient setting to help hospital staff recognise and treat symptoms and refer patients to appropriate care teams.

The week will work in very much the same way as in previous years – an online resource pack will be made available to participating sites, containing all of the resources needed to stage awareness events and campaigns in your hospital. There will also be a webinar to help encourage the spread of good practice.

This year Novo Nordisk is the official partner for Hypo Awareness Week 2014. To read more, click here.

Diabetes UK hail 'historic landmark' for pupils

The new school term will mark an “historic landmark” for children with Type 1 diabetes with schools in England having a legal duty to support youngsters with long-term health conditions.

The Children and Families Act 2014 comes into effect for the new school year on the back of campaigning by Diabetes UK for the legal protection.

A lack of training and understanding has meant some schools do not administer insulin or test the bloods of children with Type 1, or not allow them to have a snack to treat low blood glucose levels. Some children have also found themselves excluded or partially excluded from parts of school life, such as residential trips.

But under the new law, schools need to have a medical conditions policy in place, along with an individual healthcare plan for any children with Type 1 diabetes. Schools must also work with parents and Diabetes Specialist Nurses to make sure children get support and ensure relevant school staff are trained. To read more, click here.

DIABETES DIGEST

Website raises awareness of planning for pregnancy

An educational website is empowering women with diabetes to plan for pregnancy.

Developed by Queen’s University Belfast, the ‘Women with Diabetes’ preconception counselling resource aims to increase awareness about the importance of planning for pregnancy.

The site is looking to positively influence attitudes, self-confidence and intentions towards seeking pre-pregnancy care and preventing unplanned pregnancies. To read more, click here.

Diabetes recipe books shifts 1,000 copies

More than 1,000 copies of a diabetes recipe book “with a difference” published by the InDependent Diabetes Trust have now been sold.

As well as recipes, Diabetes – Food, Meds and More has an emphasis on lifestyle, a focus on real life, day-to-day situations and dietary information.

The book came as a response to listening to people with diabetes and their families who contacted the international charity based in Northampton. To read more, click here.

More information needed on new Type 2 diabetes drug

Health watchdog NICE has called for more evidence from Boehringer Ingelheim on its drug empagliflozin for treating Type 2 diabetes in new draft guidance.

Empagliflozin (marketed as Jardiance) works by blocking the reabsorption of glucose in the kidneys which is instead passed out of the body in the urine. It is an oral, once-daily medication belonging to a class of drugs called sodium glucose co-transporter (SGLT-2) inhibitors.

Professor Carole Longson, from NICE, said: “New treatments, like empagliflozin, will help clinicians give people with Type 2 diabetes the right treatment." To read more, click here.

Editor in baby joy

Oliver Jelley, the Editor of The Diabetes Times, welcomed a new addition to his family on Saturday. Eva Grace Jelley was born at Kettering General Hospital weighing 7lbs 6oz. It was a busy few hours for the family as Oliver's sister-in-law also gave birth on the same day.