The forum team hosted a tweetchat on Wednesday 29 January alongside the diabetes online community (#gbdoc). We had a great hour-long chat all about what being a DSN involves, and the training it takes to become one. We hoped it would build some bridges between healthcare professionals and people who live with diabetes. If you are interested about joining in, there is a chat every Wednesday at 9 pm hosted by the community, and they are so welcoming. It’s also a great way to learn!
One welcome news item was that NHS Wales announced they have been working closely with NHS England to publish a Welsh version of the Language Matters document. They are excited to start embedding this within diabetes care in Cymru!
Safe staffing in the community?
There was a big discussion amongst the forum and then over on Twitter about how many community DSNs there should be. Everyone has data from Diabetes UK and Getting It Right First Time about safe levels of staffing in the inpatient setting, so why not in the community? At present, there is no standardised way of providing diabetes community care. Some teams are integrated, some have non-medical prescribers, some allied health professionals and some Band 3 educators. Some have access to funds and others do not. Demographics are widely different between geographical areas and we all seem to be doing widely different job roles too.
We all know that most diabetes care takes place in the community and not in acute settings. So should we ask for some investment into this? Apparently it’s been done in other specialities; why not in diabetes? One to consider at present.
Technology troubles
There were multiple problems with flash glucose monitoring this month, first when it was announced that Abbott had pulled the licence for the FreeStyle Libre to be used alongside Glooko (Diasend). It was also announced that they would no longer allow data to be manually uploaded via USB link. This was a big cause for concern in the DSN community as some people do not have access to phones and laptops. This remains unresolved at present.
There was also a problem with deliveries, with some people waiting up to 3–4 weeks for prescription delivery. Abbott confirmed this should start to improve now as deliveries were back to normal. Fingers crossed people are not kept waiting too long.
That’s entertainment!
Some exciting entertainment news… everyone got a little hot under the collar when it was announced that the fab James Norton could well be the next James Bond. James is a great actor, and he also lives with type 1 diabetes. He is a great advocate for the condition and often speaks out to the public about how he manages this alongside his work. He was also a speaker at last year’s Talking About Diabetes. We look forward to seeing if he does get the part (he denies he’s in the running but that’s not what bookmakers believe!). We think this would be amazing for young (and old) boys and girls living with type 1 diabetes – what a role model a James Bond with type 1 would be!
Following on from this exciting teaser, it was announced that circus performers, painters, singers, tightrope walkers, bakers, photographers and more are gearing up for the first ArT1st event! This is an event arranged by Partha Kar, healthcare professionals and people living with diabetes. It is designed to showcase talents from a wide spectrum of people from the diabetes community. Agnes Graja, Lead DSN at Poole Hospital – and an excellent artist – is on the organising panel. Word has it a certain DSN we all know is putting on a show-stopping performance… So if you are the next Mary Berry, or Picasso – or even the bearded lady from The Greatest Showman – get performance-ready and chip in! If you are more of a wallflower, it’s still definitely an event for the diary! Stay tuned for more info soon. You can follow the gang on Twitter for exciting announcements.
Valentine’s Day
Lastly, we wanted to share with you a cause close to our hearts in time for Valentine’s Day. Spare a Rose is a charity campaign set up by the diabetes community to raise money to help people who live with type 1 diabetes who cannot afford to buy their insulin. The charity asks that, instead of buying a bunch of roses, you give that money to gift in the form of insulin to children who otherwise may become very poorly and could die. It’s a great charity with a diabetes focus solely on children. If you can spare any money or would like to donate to this cause, please look them up on https://lfacinternational.org/sparearose
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