The New Year started off with some positive news when it was announced that the diabetes inpatient audit pioneer Professor Gerry Rayman was given an MBE in the New Year’s Honours List.
More DiRECT study findings suggested that fat over-spills from the liver into the pancreas triggers the development of type 2 diabetes.
Later that month the Association of British Clinical Diabetologists (ABCD) released a Position Statement on frailty and its association with diabetes.
A major story which hit the headlines this month was that real-world data showed the FreeStyle Libre delivered positive health outcomes for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
This month was all about recommendations made in a bid to improve access to medical technology for people with type 1 diabetes which were shared in a JDRF report.
The guidelines for the management of children and young people under the age of 18 who are suffering from Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA) were amended and published in February.
Meanwhile, the importance of accuracy among blood glucose monitoring systems (BGMSs) was highlighted at the International Conference on Advanced Technologies & Treatments for Diabetes (ATTD) 2020.
March was when COVID-19 started to significantly impact the UK and forced Diabetes UK to cancel its annual conference.
Advice for people with diabetes who were concerned about COVID-19 was issued after it was unveiled that the condition could cause “severe symptoms and complications".
In addition, ABCD pulled together a dedicated COVID-19 resource page to keep healthcare professionals involved in diabetes care updated with the latest evidence-based information.
NHS England published a clinical guide for the management of people with diabetes during the coronavirus pandemic.
Also, in a bid to mitigate pressures on hospitals and clinicians caused by COVID-19, Roche Diabetes Care extended all warranties for Accu-Chek Combo and Accu-Chek Insight insulin pumps that were due to expire before the end of June.
With lockdown well underway in the UK, it was announced that COVID-19 had caused NHS England's Diabetes Programme to be delayed.
Professor Partha Kar stepped in to reiterate the government’s advice that people with any type of diabetes should stay home if they can, unless it was “essential” they continued working.
Later that month the National Inpatient Diabetes COVID-19 Response Group published guidance on ensuring basic and secure diabetes services were maintained during the pandemic.
The same group also issued concise advice on managing hyperglycaemia and DKA in inpatients with diabetes too to help support healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
May was a big month for the diabetes community when news broke that people with diabetes faced a significantly higher risk of dying with COVID-19 as figures released showed a third of deaths in England had been associated with the condition.
Also that month, an international panel of experts in the field of diabetes and endocrinology came together to provide practical recommendations for the management of diabetes during the pandemic.
Diabetes Professional Care (DPC) launched its Digital Hub which invited key opinion leaders to host a series of webinars to further understand the educational needs of healthcare professionals in relation to COVID-19 and diabetes.
And Professor Kamlesh Khunti, a leading type 2 diabetes researcher, developed a Risk Reduction Framework for NHS staff who may be at risk of COVID-19.
In June, diabetes nurses across Europe were asked to take part in a survey to help gain a perspective on the impact of COVID-19 within their workplace.
As it was unveiled that low doses of the steroid dexamethasone could help save the lives of those seriously ill with COVID-19, Trend Diabetes reminded healthcare professionals that the treatment could impact blood glucose levels significantly.
Later that month more dexamethasone-related information was provided with the National Inpatient Diabetes COVID-19 Response Group publishing guidance asking healthcare professionals to ensure all inpatients on the drug receive appropriate glucose surveillance.
Briefly stepping away from COVID-19, there was some good news for the award-winning Low Carb Program which was recognised by The Times as the Best Health App for type 2 diabetes prevention.
July saw the launch of the COVID-19 and diabetes national audit which was developed to help gain more understanding of how the virus had impacted people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes.
Eagerly anticipated guidance about monitoring glucose and ketones in adults with diabetes was published by Trend Diabetes. More news from Trend Diabetes saw the nursing organisation announce it was taking its annual conference virtual so it could continue safely.
Diabetes teams from across the UK and Ireland took part in Insulin Safety Week. Originally, the annual campaign was scheduled to take place in May 2020, but due to the impact of COVID-19, it was postponed until September. However, in response to overwhelming calls from the clinical community and extensive consultation, it was brought forward to July instead. Insulin Safety Week (ISW) 2020 took place from July 6 to 12.
In The Big Interview, we spoke to pharmacist James Richardson, the Medical Lead for BGM Mature Markets at Ascensia Diabetes Care.
AstraZeneca announced its drug AZD1656 was set to be trialled in humans to see if it could reduce the risk of serious illness or death among those with diabetes who become infected with coronavirus.
Teams from the Harvard Medical School and Joslin Diabetes Center published findings that stated type 1 diabetes does not increase risk for hospitalisation from COVID-19, particularly among individuals without diabetes complications.
Diabetes UK published a clinician report which said disruption to inpatient diabetes services had actually created positive environments and opportunities for new ways of working.
Healthcare professionals were asked to participate in the first international audit looking at the do-it-yourself artificial pancreas system.
This month saw some upbeat news for a change with a team, led by a consultant anaesthetist based in Newport, being named as the winner of the prestigious Rowan Hillson Inpatient Safety Award 2019.
Diabetes Professional Care (DPC2020) pledged to support NHS staff who were being urged to speed up the return to “near-normal levels of non-COVID health services”.
DPC2020 also announced that month that it too was going virtual and vowed to become the “number one virtual event in the 2020 diabetes calendar”.
And with the European Association for the Study of Diabetes Annual Meeting 2020 taking place virtually this month, there were lots of studies published, such as how type 1 and type 2 diabetes were both independently associated with a significant increased odds of in-hospital death with COVID-19.
A remote patient monitoring solution that enables healthcare professionals to monitor people with diabetes outside of conventional care settings was launched by Roche Diabetes Care.
NHS trusts and Primary Care Networks were urged to roll out a new online insulin safety course which was launched by Trend Diabetes with the aim of reducing insulin errors by providing free education to healthcare professionals.
Professor Partha Kar was in the news that month after confirming the positive news that all pregnant women with type 1 diabetes will now be offered continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices.
A Diabetes Specialist Nurse from Liverpool and the Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust were both announced as winners at this year's virtual Quality in Care (QiC) diabetes awards.
Roche Diabetes Care announced a cooperative partnership with the ABCD Diabetes Technology Network (DTN), and software company Glooko AB to provide an e-learning platform for healthcare professionals.
Also that month the award-winning Low Carb Program became available on the G-Cloud 12 framework after it was approved last year.
Thousands of healthcare professionals attended DPC2020 Virtual which was dubbed a "digital masterpiece".
To mark World Diabetes Day, Ascensia Diabetes Care launched an emotive series of online videos with contributions from people with diabetes from around the planet.
Trend Diabetes continued its Insulin Safety Campaign by providing free leaflets and crib cards to diabetes teams and GP surgeries for World Diabetes Day.
Published research found that losing just two to three kilograms of weight and exercising for two years nearly halves the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
All trusts must have a dedicated multi-disciplinary team of specialist diabetes inpatient practitioners, according to the Diabetes GIRFT Programme National Specialty Report by Professors Gerry Rayman and Partha Kar.
Specialty endocrine services were advised to continue during the second wave of COVID-19 but to “tailor their future working” depending on what is going on in their region.
There was good news for inpatient diabetes teams who have reduced medication errors, severe hypoglycaemia episodes and hospital-acquired diabetic foot lesions, according to the National Diabetes Inpatient Audit (NaDIA) 2019.
Healthcare professionals should be aware of the increased risk of harm in hospital inpatients with higher risk characteristics, according to the 2019 National Diabetes Inpatient Audit (NaDIA) – Harms.
A paediatric diabetes team in Southport rounded off the year on a high after scooping the 'Excellence in Healthcare' prize at the NHS Parliamentary Awards.
Service management for footcare during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic was set out by the English Diabetes Footcare Network (EDFN) to help healthcare professionals clarify the current best practice position within the field of diabetes.
Finally, Professor Partha Kar was awarded an OBE for services to people with diabetes in the New Year’s Honours list.
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