New national diabetes care home guidance out for consultation in 10 days
A comprehensive set of guidelines aimed at enhancing diabetes care in care homes will be out for consultation from Monday, February 7, 2022 for four weeks.
The National Advisory Panel for Care Home Diabetes (NAPCHD), chaired by Professor Alan Sinclair was formed in mid-2020 to bring about a culture change in the way residents with diabetes are cared for in order to bring about sustained benefits.
The multiprofessional panel of experts is now seeking views on its Strategic Document of Diabetes Care throughout February as part of a public consultation, ahead of its official launch. It is the first in-depth, comprehensive review of this area and covers not only clinical care but also communications and networking between stakeholders.
The document provides 49 recommendations focussing on producing the highest possible standards of diabetes care. They have been developed by eight subgroups of the panel along with more than 150 key steps on implementing the recommendations.
Once agreed, the recommendations will be available for all care homes across the country with the intention to improve standards of diabetes care and enhance the well-being, quality of life, and clinical outcomes of all residents with diabetes.
The strategic document reflects on the importance of sound and effective communication channels between residents and families, care homes, community nursing and diabetes services, primary care, acute hospital services, eye specialist and optometry care services, nutritional and podiatry services, and the social services sector.
Chaired by Professor Sinclair of King’s College and fDROP, the multiagency panel consists of senior clinicians and representatives of people living with diabetes (PLWD), some of the key diabetes organisations, British Dietetic Association, RCGP, CQC, QNI, ADASS, Care England, Duet Diabetes, UKCPA, Hallmark Care Homes, and the Association of Clinical Biochemists & Laboratory Medicine.
Professor Sinclair, who has had extensive involvement in care home diabetes and will be leading the project, said: “It has taken the COVID-19 pandemic, which has taken a major toll on the care home resident population with diabetes, to highlight their vulnerability and to expose significant shortfalls in how we best manage this condition in these settings.
“The Strategic Document of Diabetes Care reflects the views of a fantastic panel of experts who were a joy to work with and is a great opportunity to make a difference in this sector. We hope that our recommendations will receive the appropriate amount of funding to develop new improved services and we trust in those making these decisions.”
The consultation will open on Monday, February 7, and conclude on Monday, March 7. To take part in the consultation, please email alan.sinclair@kcl.ac.uk or sinclair.5@btinternet.com.
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