Clinical Champions set ‘to transform diabetes care’

A total of 20 ‘Clinical Champions’ have been appointed in a bid to help transform care for people living with diabetes, it has been announced.

The new roles were created as part of the ‘Clinical Champions’ initiative run by the Diabetes UK charity in collaboration with global healthcare company Novo Nordisk.

The programme was set up last year because the charity recognised the urgent need to address the differences in the delivery of diabetes care and treatment, which can alter the outcome of some people’s healthcare.

The roles were open to any healthcare professional experienced in treating the complex needs of people with diabetes, including consultants, GPs, nurses and senior pharmacists. The voluntary positions will run for two years and include a package of support and training.

We are extremely proud to be supporting Diabetes UK with this enterprising project

Chris Askew, Chief Executive of Diabetes UK, said: “Clinicians are uniquely well placed to identify how diabetes services could be improved, but are all too often left frustrated and unable to deliver this change. However, as Clinical Champions, they have the unique opportunity to draw on their expertise and take action to make a real difference to the lives of people living with diabetes.

‘Empowering’

“There is a diabetes crisis in the UK with 3.9 million people living with the condition, 590,000 of whom don’t realise it as they have not yet been diagnosed. There is clear evidence that investment in better diabetes care brings about both human and economic benefit; having effective services in place helps reduce the personally devastating, and costly, health complications that can develop as a result of diabetes being poorly managed. As such the Champions have an essential role to play in promoting and delivering on innovative best practice.”

Klaus Henning Jensen, Novo Nordisk’s Head of Clinical, Medical and Regulatory Affairs for UK and Ireland, said: “We are extremely proud to be supporting Diabetes UK with this enterprising project. We believe that empowering and partnering with highly dedicated healthcare professionals is one of the best ways to help improve diabetes services, and the fact this project specifically engages Champions across all four UK nations adds an important additional focus.

“We hope that through the dedicated training and additional support they receive this new cadre of Clinical Champions will be able to make real and impactful changes to the lives of those living with diabetes across the UK.”

One of the newly appointed Clinical Champions, Dr Sam Rice, Consultant Physician and Endocrinologist at Hywel Dda University Health Board, said: “Diabetes is an ever increasing burden to both patients and their care providers. In the current resource-stretched environment it is vital to consider and develop innovations that address patient requirement as well as our ability to deliver care.

“In my experience, attempts to develop and deliver changes in care processes within large NHS organisations can be both frustrating and disheartening. I hope this role will provide me with the skill set necessary to increase the delivery and extend new concepts of care that will ultimately help us to support patients to manage their diabetes while also receiving the clinical care they need.

“I hope to develop and deliver novel methods of patient education and support, often through the use of modern technology, and therefore provide both quality and equitable support that can be easily accessed by all those who want and need it.”

The Champions appointed last year have already introduced new ways of working, including a simple medical algorithm across four clinical commissioning groups in Birmingham, which have helped ensure people have equal access to treatment, regardless of where they live.