Three videos highlighting the importance of patients with diabetes being able to administer their own insulin while in hospital are being shared by the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme, to co-incide with Insulin Safety Week 2022.
The GIRFT national report for diabetes, published in November 2020, showed that up to 20% of all NHS hospital beds are occupied by patients with diabetes, although the majority (92%) are admitted for other conditions and illnesses.
In some cases, a lack of co-ordinated care and specialist diabetes staffing can result in complications for patients, which lead to them staying longer in hospital or put them at higher risk.
The GIRFT report outlined a series of measures to improve inpatient safety, including a recommendation for all trusts to have and promote a policy of self-administration, allowing patients who are willing and able to manage their own daily insulin intake wherever possible. It also called for training for every healthcare professional who dispenses, prescribes or administers insulin, to help further reduce insulin errors in hospital.
Since the report’s publication, GIRFT has been working to educate, support and enhance the profile of diabetes across all areas of acute trusts, to help prevent unnecessary harm to patients.
The series of three videos – two voiced by GIRFT clinical leads for diabetes and co-authors of the national report, Professor Gerry Rayman MBE and Professor Partha Kar OBE, and a third animation – aim to reinforce the importance of inpatient safety and support the messages of Insulin Safety Week (May 2nd – 8th).
Watch them by following @NHSGIRFT on Twitter or going to the GIRFT page on LinkedIn.
