Colleagues invited to prestigious event in Switzerland to recognise innovative work to help young people with Diabetes
Two colleagues from the Paediatric Diabetes department at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton were invited to a prestigious academy event in Switzerland to present their groundbreaking innovation work to reduce waiting times for young people that need insulin pumps.
Rachel Swindell, Paediatric Diabetes Nurse Practitioner, and Elizabeth Bateman, Lead Paediatric Diabetes Specialist Nurse, were tasked to join up the paediatric diabetes service at both Royal Derby Hospital and Queen's Hospital Burton and make it more consistent so that all patients visiting either site received the same level and quality of care. This work presented an opportunity for them to innovatively change their rollout of the patient pump system and reduce waiting times for young patients.
After the pandemic, the waiting list for the insulin pump service was 18 months, and it took the team two to three days to put one patient on a pump using the old pathway due to the education and training the patients need to learn how to use the pump.
To reduce the waiting list, Rachel and Elizabeth along with their UHDB Paediatric Diabetes colleagues, implemented a 'workstation' approach, where 20 patients would be invited to learn how to use the pump technology, all in one day, so they can manage their diabetes safely at home. This meant a large number of patients started on an insulin pump on the same day whilst also receiving vital one-to-one education and support to remember the education delivered.
Rachel said: "The patients make their way around the workstations and members of the team deliver a focused piece of education on a certain aspect of that pump, showing the patient how to use it. When they leave, they are on their pump using the closed loop system and they should have everything they need to keep them safe until their next review date."
This new initiative utilises existing resources at the Trust, while increasing access to diabetes technology to meet demand efficiently and safely, directly improving quality of life and health outcomes. In addition, the changes also offer a safe environment and structured approach for staff training, incorporating all members of the multi-disciplinary team.
Rachel said: "We wanted to move in line with the technology, but the result of that has benefited staff too as the one-to-one system of the 20 patient pump start means they are getting trained up faster than before and they are able to deliver that training and education to patients confidently."
The pump works in conjunction with a continuous glucose monitor to administer insulin to the body when needed, with the two systems working together to learn the needs of each child and help them manage the condition with less effort, reducing the impact of diabetes on them day-to-day.
This approach was successful and has reduced waiting lists by half. In addition, the updated pump service at the Trust since the Derby and Burton diabetes nursing service merged, led to Rachel and Elizabeth being nominated for a place on the Medtronic Lead Academy for nurses in Switzerland, a prestigious event which only accepts two Diabetes Specialist nurses in the whole of UK and Ireland. Elizabeth attended in September to represent the team and the Trust.
She said: "It was an honour to be able to travel to the event and represent our work which we are really proud of, while also learning from other organisations about their own innovations and bringing that learning back to the team to continue to build on our improvements."
UHDB is thought to be the only trust offering the 20 patient pump starts to its paediatric caseload, resulting in them sharing their work nationally for other organisations to learn from and adapt for their own Trusts.
Rachel added: "There was a huge drive and motivation to get patients on the right technology to improve their short and long term health and it’s a bonus that the patient feedback to this initiative have been really positive, with some saying this technology has changed their quality of life and they appreciate us delivering it in this way."
The implementation of the 20 patient pump start also led to the team being shortlisted for the Quality Improvement Award at the UHDB Annual Making a Difference Awards 2024 and two posters displaying their quality improvement work have been selected to be displayed at the British Society for Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes (BSPED) conference in Glasgow in October.