The Link: Vol 16 No 10

NHS Diabetes
NHS Diabetes is continuing its campaign for increased patient safety by launching a new e-learning module, entitled “Safe Management of Hypoglycaemia” (SMH). SMH is aimed at healthcare professionals, but is also invaluable for people with diabetes and their families.

The aim of the module is to improve patient safety by reducing the number of patients who experience hypoglycaemia, wherever the person with diabetes is at the time.

The training focuses on the key elements of managing hypos:

• What is a hypo?
• Signs and symptoms.
• Treatment of hypos.
• How to avoid hypos.
• Driving and hypos.

The module is available on the NHS Diabetes website and is designed to be simple to complete, taking no more than half an hour or so to do. It does not have to be completed all in one sitting and users will receive a PDF certificate on successful completion of each module.

Helen Wilkinson, NHS Diabetes Programme Lead for Safety, said: 

“This new module has been produced in addition to the ‘Safe Use of Insulin’, ‘Intravenous Insulin Infusion’ and ‘Safe Use of Non-Insulin Therapies’ modules. These modules have proved popular with healthcare professionals with 90344, 13950 and 3211 registrations respectively. We are delighted to be able to offer this free training to further improve patient safety in diabetes care.”

Go to the Healthcare e-Academy website to access the e-learning module: http://nhsdiabetes.healthcareea.co.uk.

Find out more about this e-learning course in the NHS Diabetes safety webpages:
www.diabetes.nhs.uk/safety/safe_management_of_hypoglycaemia_elearning_module.

Diabetes UK
On World Diabetes Day, Diabetes UK launched the first phase of its Children and Young Person’s Campaign. The charity is calling for awareness of the four main symptoms of type 1 diabetes, the “4 Ts” – Toilet, Thirsty, Tired and Thinner – after a new survey found that nine out of 10 parents do not know these four main symptoms.

As many as a quarter of children and young people with type 1 diabetes are only diagnosed when they are already seriously ill with diabetic ketoacidosis and the charity is working to reduce the number of these dangerous and traumatic episodes. The campaign will raise awareness among people who care for children so that they can spot the 4 Ts and will ensure that healthcare professionals test for diabetes as soon as a child presents with any of these symptoms.

Diabetes UK has developed a Diagnosing Children Pathway for healthcare professionals. For more information, or to download the pathway or awareness posters, visit www.diabetes.org.uk/The4Ts.

South Asian Health Foundation
In the UK, there is an urgent need for education about the risk and symptoms of diabetes in South Asian people, as they are up to six times more likely to develop the condition than the white European population. This is the message that was highlighted recently at the House of Lords by the South Asian Health Foundation (SAHF), which is urging funding to be provided for prevention, and for local authorities to consider providing culturally and linguistically sensitive education sessions in high-risk South Asian communities.

For more information about SAHF initiatives, visit www.sahf.org.uk.