Event Details

Key Speakers

Anna Morton, Director, NHS Diabetes

Overview

Diabetes is one of the biggest challenges facing the NHS. There is estimated to be 3.1 million people diagnosed with diabetes in England and this figure is expected to rise to 4.6 million by 2030. Along with the rapidly growing scale of the condition, the associated care and treatment costs are also alarming; in 2011 the NHS spent almost £10 billion on diabetes, 80% of which was spent on managing potentially preventable complications.

The Government has underlined the urgent need to curtail the rise in diabetes and its complications by raising public awareness of the signs and symptoms of diabetes and the importance of a healthy lifestyle, alongside delivering more effective risk assessment and early diagnosis programmes across the country. The Government is also clear that people diagnosed with diabetes must be fully supported, through structured education and access to the necessary resources and specialists, to self-manage their condition.

Despite national standards of care being set out in the National Service Framework for Diabetes in 2001 and reinforced in the NICE Quality Standard for Diabetes in 2011, the quality of services is patchy. The National Audit Commission highlighted huge discrepancies in the number of people with diabetes receiving their nine basic annual health checks, with figures ranging from 6% to 69% and only 4% for children, whilst amputation rates are almost 10 times higher in some areas of the country than in others.

In order to deliver high quality, cost-effective and efficient diabetes care, diabetes must become a commissioning priority. With diabetes care spanning a wide range of service areas, patient-centred care planning, strong multi-agency working and timely social and psychological support are essential.

This timely symposium provides an invaluable opportunity for health and social care practitioners, commissioning professionals and other key stakeholders from across the third and private sector to examine the national policy framework and explore how to stem the rise in diabetes locally. The symposium will discuss how to transform diabetes care to address the rise in costly and serious complications and to tackle the persistent variation in standards across the country, through better screening, risk assessment and care and stronger links between services.

Delegates will:

• Examine the national picture for diabetes care, Government policy and the impact of NHS reforms
• Consider how to prevent diabetes through better public awareness and improved early identification
• Discuss how to provide personalised care and facilitate effective self-management
• Analyse how to commission better diabetes services, reduce costs and complications to improve quality and increase patient satisfaction
• Debate how to drive up standards of care in poorly performing areas to end the post-code lottery

Programme

Who Should Attend?

• Diabetes Specialist Nurses
• Dieticians
• Podiatrists
• Obesity Practitioners
• Primary Care Trusts
• Strategic Health Authorities
• Health Service Professionals
• Midwives
• Maternity Care and Midwifery Organisations
• PCT’s
• Nutritionists
• Commissioning Directors
• Parent Participation Teams
• Parental Engagement Teams
• Paediatricians
• Health Visitors
• Public Health Practitioners
• Private Health Services
• Mental Health Practitioners
• Family Health Teams and Outreach Workers
• Family Nurse Partnerships
• General Practitioners
• Clinical Managers
• Physiotherapists
• Children’s Services Professionals
• Maternity Support Workers
• NHS Training Departments
• Clinical Quality Directors
• Directors of Performance
• Heads of Quality and Patient Safety
• Heads of Procurement
• Heads of Innovation and Development
• Preventative Health Professionals
• Social Services
• Local Pregnancy Advisory Services
• Child Obesity Practitioners
• Sure Start Centres
• Heads of Children’s Services and Teams
• Youth Services
• Leisure Services
• Food and Drinks Industry
• Occupational Health Managers
• Teenage Pregnancy Coordinators and Advisors
• Social Exclusion and Neighbourhood Renewal Teams
• Family Planning Clinics
• Occupational Health Professionals
• Sports and Leisure Centres
• Integrated Disabled Services
• Local Education Authorities
• Safeguarding Children Teams and Local Safeguarding Boards
• Voluntary and Community Organisations
• Third Sector Practitioners and Organisations
• Trade Unions
• Equality, Diversity and Human Rights Practitioners
• Academics
• Local Authority Officers and Councillors
• Central Government Departments and Agencies

“ Diabetes needs tackling now. We must stem the rise in cases, help people live more easily with their condition, and overhaul our approach to treatment and care to halt the rise in costly and serious complications. Government and the NHS must lead the way, by making diabetes a top health priority. The NHS must improve how it manages screening, risk assessment and care, and create better links between services. We are calling for an end to delayed diagnosis, an end to the variation in care across the country, and an end to the cutting of specialist posts and services that are vital to the effective management of this rapidly growing condition. ”
— ‘State of the Nation 2012, England’, Diabetes UK, May 2012

“ There is still much to be done to help tackle diabetes and root out poor care. That is why we are working on a new long-term conditions strategy with diabetes as an exemplar. Our focus is on prevention and education, with more done to get earlier diagnoses and to help people manage their conditions themselves. This report and our new strategy will help local NHS services act so that diabetics get the care they need and deserve. ”
— Care Services Minister, May 2012