Twenty healthcare professionals, including consultants, nurses, GPs, dietitians, podiatrists and pharmacists have been appointed as Clinical Champions for Diabetes UK.
The award-winning Clinical Champions programme supports healthcare professionals to become strong local leaders, working to address the significant variation in patient care and treatment for people living with diabetes in the UK.
The new cohort of Champions have been selected based on their skills, clinical expertise and a demonstrable passion for transforming care for people with diabetes. They will be supported by Diabetes UK with two years of training alongside their clinical work, to help them identify improvements and drive vital change in diabetes services in their local areas.
The Clinical Champions programme was launched by Diabetes UK in 2014, in partnership with Novo Nordisk. There are now 65 Clinical Champions across the UK, with access to a network of like-minded clinicians, with whom they can share the challenges they encounter, and the solutions they discover.
Chris Askew, chief executive of Diabetes UK, said: “There is a diabetes crisis in the UK; around 4.5 million people now live with the condition, and more than a million don’t realise they have Type 2 diabetes. We know that investment in better diabetes care brings both human and economic benefits, by reducing the devastating and costly health complications that can develop as a result of the condition being poorly managed.
“That’s why our Clinical Champions are so important. They play a critical role in leading improvements to the care people living with diabetes receive, and contribute enormously to our aim of creating a world where diabetes can do no harm.”
