Wales

Read this page in Welsh

NHS teams from across Wales are celebrating after a successful night at the tenth annual Quality in Care (QiC) Diabetes Awards.

The Quality in Care Diabetes awards ceremony was held virtually on Thursday 15 October. QiC Diabetes recognises initiatives that improve the quality of life for people living with diabetes, as judged by the NHS, patients and industry. The Awards are sponsored by Sanofi Medical.

“These awards provide a great opportunity for the inspirational work done across the country to be shared and for us to show how much we value those who strive to improve the quality of care and support provided to their patients with diabetes,” said Professor Mike Baxter, Diabetes Therapy Lead, Sanofi Medical.

“The NHS has made it clear that it wishes to be a learning organization and these awards are an important stage for great practice to be disseminated to  a wider audience and act as a trigger for service improvement or an inspiration for new projects.”

SEREN Connect, the diabetes education programme to support people with Type 1 diabetes moving to adult services, was the big winner on the night, securing both the Diabetes Education Programmes: People with Diabetes award, and the Judges Special Award, which is the entry selected by the judging panel “that the judges felt were deserving of special mention and recognition as a result of work that has made a real difference to diabetes care or something that is innovative.”

SEREN Connect has been funded by the All-Wales Diabetes Implementation Group and rolled out in all health boards. The judges commented that it was: “… very impressive, with remarkable results. It is a most effective use of clinical time, money and resource, demonstrating notable involvement from a difficult to reach patient group. It is a carefully developed resource involving a wide range of stakeholders, including young people, that fills a gap in the service and is reducing variation in transition care. It is clearly well received by all, and the numbers of health professionals trained is a reflection of how widely it has spread.”

There were two finalists from NHS Wales in the Type 1 Specialist Services category. Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board won with their entry “Growing Up, Moving On – Supporting Young People Leaving Paediatric Services”, about their redesigned service supporting young people at ‘Transition’.  The judges commented that “this entry was the ideal of what should be happening within our industry. It started small and grew, improving and demonstrating positive impacts in the diagnosis and management of type 1 diabetes. There is no doubt that they have achieved this in spades!”

Hypo Dino, published by the Children and Young People’s Wales Diabetes Network was a finalist in the same category and was described by the judges as “a beautiful piece of work …. It is a lovely project with a great story. The fact that the book was written and illustrated by children, but still had a very helpful and serious message within it was impressive. Very inspiring.”

The authors of Hypo Dino, Katie Courtney and Ava Morgan, were presented with an Unsung Hero Award for writing the book, with the judges saying “These two young girls covered an important area and showed a remarkable achievement in creating the Hypo Dino book on their own initiative. Their story is very powerful and these two young people are extraordinary.”

Another winner on the night was Dr Rose Stewart, who was presented with the NHS Wales Outstanding Contribution for Services in Diabetes Award, and an Unsung Hero Award as well. Rose has led on the Talking Type 1 programme, creating resources that are being used by teams across Wales to support people with diabetes meeting their mental health and wellbeing needs. Talking Type 1 was Highly Commended in the Mind and Body Healthy Together category, with the judges noting it as “an innovative and novel approach and something that is really needed. It fills a gap within psychological support and had a good range of feedback from different users. It clearly demonstrated the impact of the project.”

The All-Wales Quality Assured Brief Intervention Pre-Diabetes Pilot was another winning entry from Wales, this time in the Prevention, Remission and Early Diagnosis category. The All-Wales Pre-Diabetes pathway was piloted in Swansea Bay University Health Board, and achieved significant results in helping people with pre-diabetes improve health outcomes. The judges said: “This entry was a clear winner, demonstrating a targeted approach to identify the patients who needed required it the most. What made this entry stand out was its innovation and impressive cost-efficiency as well as its potential scalability. Not only did this programme deliver impressive outcomes for patients, but also empowered the healthcare assistants involved as well. A very compelling programme!”

Cardiff & Vale University Health Board were finalists in the Patient Care Pathway, Secondary and Community category for their podiatry innovation Developing a Community ‘Walk in’ Clinic for Diabetic Foot Disease. The judges commented that “This was a simple but effective project that has the potential to be quickly implemented widely across diabetes care. Those involved in this initiative adopted a ‘just do it’ attitude that targeted a specific sub-population, which was a fantastic idea. This project put patients at the centre of its approach and looked at the individual needs of each and every person involved.”

Finally, Wendy Gane MBE, Chair of the All-Wales Patient Reference Group and advocate for people with diabetes was one of three finalists in The People’s Award, a special category, supported by Diabetes UK, which recognises individuals who have supported and cared for people with diabetes.

Information about all these award-winning projects is available. Please contact Lois Underwood from the All-Wales Diabetes Implementation Group with any queries. Her email address is Lois.Underwood@wales.nhs.uk

FULL LIST OF WALES WINNERS & FINALISTS

Mind and Body Healthy Together

HIGHLY COMMENDED: Talking Type 1 – Making Diabetes Psychology Accessible for Everyone

(All Wales Diabetes Implementation Group)

Diabetes Education Programmes: People with Diabetes

WINNER: SEREN Connect: A Holistic Young Adult Diabetes Education

(NHS Wales Collaborative / All Wales Diabetes Implementation Group)

Type 1 Specialist Service

WINNER: Growing Up, Moving On – Supporting Young People Leaving Paediatric Services

(Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board)

FINALIST: “Hypo Dino – Created by Children to Inspire Others”

(Children and Young People’s Wales Diabetes Network)

Patient Care Pathway, Secondary and Community

FINALIST – Developing a Community ‘Walk in’ Clinic for Diabetic Foot Disease

(Cardiff & Vale University Health Board)

Prevention, Remission and Early Diagnosis

WINNER: All Wales Quality Assured Brief Intervention Pre-Diabetes Pilot

(Cardiff and Vale Univeristy Health Board and Swansea Bay University Health Board / All Wales Diabetes Implementation Group)

Judges’ Special Award

WINNER: SEREN Connect: A Holistic Young Adult Diabetes Education

(NHS Wales Collaborative / All Wales Diabetes Implementation Group)

NHS Wales Outstanding Contribution for Services in Diabetes Award

Dr Rose Stewart, Principal Clinical Psychologist, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board

Unsung Hero Award

WINNER: Katie Courtney and Ava Morgan, Creators of Hypo Dino

WINNER: Dr Rose Stewart, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board

The People’s Award

FINALIST – Wendy Gane MBE, Chair, All-Wales Patient Reference Group

About Quality in Care (QiC) Diabetes

Quality in Care (QiC) Diabetes recognises, rewards and shares innovative practice demonstrating quality in diabetes management, education and services for people with diabetes and/or their families.