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Diabetes data dashboard gets award shortlisting

18/04/2021
This article is more than three years old.

An Oxfordshire NHS diabetes team has been shortlisted for a Health Service Journal (HSJ) Value Award in the 'Diabetes Care Initiative of the Year' category.

The shortlisted team includes senior clinicians and managers from:

  • Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Foundation Trust 
  • Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group 
  • Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust 
  • South Central and West Commissioning Support Unit

The team developed a Diabetes Dashboard, which presents information every month about diabetes care and health outcomes for the people in Oxfordshire living with diabetes. It presents data at county, Primary Care Network (PCN) and GP practice level, so providing regular insight into Oxfordshire diabetes population health.

The dashboard has subsequently been used in regular visits in GP practices and PCNs by the diabetes specialist team, including  consultants, diabetes specialist nurses and dietitians to develop supportive multi-disciplinary working and joined-up care across primary, community and secondary care which improves outcomes for people with diabetes.

The implementation of the Dashboard and multi-disciplinary working has played a significant role in improving the care of people with diabetes within Oxfordshire, which is shown in the National Diabetes Audit (NDA).

People with diabetes should have an annual check-up, which includes urine and blood tests, as well as an examination of their feet. This has improved in Oxfordshire between 2016 to 2020:

  • the percentage of people with Type 2 diabetes having all their annual checks increased from 51.6% to 76.7% (nationally the figure changed from 53.9% to 54.3%)
  • for people with Type 1 diabetes, this increased from 29.3% to 57% (nationally, from 37.3% to 40.8%)

Every year, diabetes causes 27,000 heart attacks and nearly 100,000 cases of heart failure in the UK. It also leads to 37,600 strokes in the UK annually.

Garry Tan, Clinical Lead for Diabetes at OUH, said: "We are delighted to be working in partnership with health professionals across Oxfordshire to improve the care of people with diabetes. Over the last few years we have collaborated with GPs, Oxford Health, Oxfordshire CCG, and the Commissioning Support Unit to achieve better outcomes for the 30,000 people with diabetes in Oxfordshire."

Rustam Rea, Consultant in Diabetes at OUH, said: "Working together across a wide population has enabled us to achieve far more than we could have done by ourselves. We are thrilled that this collaborative working has received this recognition by the HSJ Value Awards."

Dr Amar Latif, Clinical Lead for Long Term Conditions at Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said: "We are absolutely delighted to be shortlisted for this award. This is a testament to the dedication, commitment and hard work that has been undertaken by GP practices and specialist diabetes teams across Oxfordshire.

"I feel proud to be working with colleagues who put the care of their patients at the heart of everything they do. This nomination is a recognition of the great care that people with diabetes receive in Oxfordshire, even during the height of the pandemic. I am grateful to everyone who has contributed towards this."

Jane Salmon and Jane Maskell, Clinical Leads for Community Diabetes Service at Oxford Health, said: "We have been working together with OUH, GPs and OCCG. I am very proud that this collaboration has worked well and we have been able to make a difference for people with diabetes in Oxfordshire.

"Together we have established great communication links and support networks for all involved. It is not only the data that demonstrates the improvements but also the voices of people with diabetes in the county, who feel that their diabetes care and support has been enriched."

Rosemary Honour-Smith, Primary Care Business Intelligence Manager at South Central and West Commissioning Support Unit, said: "We are delighted that our collaborative work with the teams across Oxfordshire has been recognised for this HSJ Value Award. The dashboard enables data from multiple sources to be shared across multi-disciplinary teams providing a better understanding of the quality of care received by people with diabetes."

Meanwhile, OUH's day case hip replacement surgery service, based at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, was nominated for the Post-Covid Sustainable Transformation Award.

The winners of the awards will be announced in September 2021.