Aiming to get to grips with diabetes

The England-wide survey, which is now open to participants, follows the recently-completed Beds & Herts diabetes care home audit pilot, which revealed significant variations in the access to training and education of care home staff who deal with residents with diabetes and inconsistent specific policies for the management of diabetes.

Care homes owners across Bedfordshire are being encouraged to take part to examine current diabetes procedures and practices at a time when the proportion of residents with diabetes has already approached 27%.

The organisation, located at Putteridge Bury Campus based outside Luton, is leading the audit alongside the professional organisation for all medical diabetes specialists, ABCD (Association of British Clinical Diabetologists), with the full support and collaboration of multiple diabetes organisations.

The national audit seeks to identify quality standards that can be picked up by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to be used for assessment of the quality of diabetes care being delivered in care home settings.

Audit Lead Professor Alan Sinclair, Director of IDOP and National Clinical Lead for Diabetes in Older People, said: “We would like to urge our close colleagues in care homes across Bedfordshire and surrounding counties to be among the first to register for this ground-breaking initiative.

“This audit has the potential to improve care for older people with diabetes living in care homes in England, and give insight on how to provide staff with the training and support that they need, as well as assisting managers and policymakers to allocate resources.”