HIGHLY COMMENDED

Virtual Ward, Innovation and Collaboration, Improving Diabetes Care in the Community

by North East Essex Diabetes Service

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The Virtual Ward (VW) was initiated because of the high number of housebound patients with diabetes who required daily community nurse (CN) visits to administer insulin, but for whom diabetes control remained poor. North East Essex Diabetes Service (NEEDS) and Anglia Community Enterprise (ACE) worked collaboratively in the VW to review each patient’s individual needs, resulting in improved patient outcomes, quality of life and reduced CN visits, saving hundreds of hours of CN time, all of which have brought financial benefits to the local NHS. This project has also led to closer working relationships with the wider community team.

Judges’ comments:

“There was a massive need for this project and it was delivered using innovative solutions. The team used outside-the-box thinking while taking advantage of the resources they had at their disposal, which concluded in some impressive results.”

COMMENDED

Developing a Team Approach to Improve Insulin Safety and Reduce Insulin Wastage

by Northern Devon Healthcare Trust

An Inpatient Diabetes Awareness (IDA) project was launched in 2015, as the existing link nurse model was ineffective. A 12-month programme was developed to enable the diabetes specialist team to audit different aspects of diabetes management and care on each ward, highlight areas going well and review those that required education and improvement. Among topics audited was insulin safety and wastage. Themes identified included: insulin safety (ward stock management); safe administration of insulin; patients’ own insulin (waste reduction); staff education and training; multidisciplinary team working; patient transfer/discharge; insulin wastage and patient experience. The project has improved inpatient diabetes care through increased staff knowledge and awareness, improved efficiency, reduced insulin omission and reduced incidents.

Judges’ comments:

“This was a very well-written entry detailing an innovative project. The small team delivered big results and what the judges loved most is that its potential is enormous! The team was able to break down the barriers of silo working within the NHS – and that was absolutely fantastic. The results were tangible, the methodology was great and the technical aspects were spot on.”