Katie and Angela become Diabetes UK Clinical Champions

Two members of staff at Oxford University Hospitals have been appointed Diabetes UK Clinical Champions - two out of only 20 in the UK.

Ms Katie Hards, Lead Diabetes Specialist Nurse, and Ms Angela Hargreaves, Dietetic Team Leader for Diabetes and Endocrinology, at Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism (OCDEM), have been selected for their personal skills, clinical expertise, passion and integrity to help deliver tangible improvements in care for people with diabetes.

Diabetes affects more than 4.7 million people in the UK, and provision of treatment for both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes varies considerably from area to area.

Diabetes UK Clinical Champions are supported by Diabetes UK to become catalysts for change, helping to improve diabetes care across their local health systems and access best-practice examples from across the UK - and thereby enhance the quality of care for the growing population of people with diabetes.

The appointments, which are highly competitive, are for two years, during which time Katie and Angela will receive considerable support from Diabetes UK, as well as a leadership development programme delivered by Ashridge Executive Education, an internationally renowned business school.

Katie Hards has also appeared in the BBC1 programme 'One Day That Changed My Life', about a woman called Abigail who has diabetes.

One Day That Changed My Life - BBC iPlayer

Our congratulations go to both Katie Hards and Angela  Hargreaves on their achievement.

Pictured: the interior of the OCDEM building.