_{30th July 2012}

A message from the Director of NHS Diabetes, Anna Morton.

With all the changes taking place in the NHS as the reforms start to take shape, I wanted to take this opportunity to inform you of our plans for the future and highlight some important forthcoming activities.

You may have heard about the plans to create a new national improvement body to begin in 2013/14. These plans are still at an early stage and we are very much involved in helping to shape and develop the proposed new organisation. As it is established, we hope it will provide a real opportunity to ensure the best work of all the improvement bodies can be shared and developed to further benefit patients and ensure value for money. We are committed to ensuring that diabetes remains a top priority for the new improvement body and that our programme of work, tools and web resources are sustained. 

We have also been feeding into the work to develop and sustain clinical networks in the future. Yesterday, the NHS Commissioning Board Authority set out its plans for a small number of national networks to improve health services for specific patient groups or conditions.

Cardiovascular disease, including kidney disease, diabetes, cardiac, and stroke, is one of the conditions chosen for the first strategic clinical networks, alongside cancer; maternity and children’s services; and mental health, dementia and neurological conditions.

Full details of the new strategic clinical networks can be read in The Way Forward – strategic clinical networks which is published on 26 July. A frequently asked questions document is also available.  Both can be downloaded from the NHS Commissioning Board Authority.

We will continue to keep you all informed of any further developments as they become available, but for now, we continue to deliver our work programme with determination and passion. In particular, I wanted to draw your attention to some recent successes and exciting new projects: 

• The work of our newly-formed professional networks is gaining real momentum. Our Older People Diabetes Network, launched in partnership with the Institute of Diabetes for Older People, was showcased at the Houses of Parliament last month with a special launch event.  
• Dr Peter Hammond has just joined us as the clinical lead for the Insulin Pump Network, which having gathered feedback from its members now has a clear way forward. In inpatients, we are running the first ever national Hypo Awareness Week from August 13 to 19, which has attracted a huge amount of interest and excitement. Our National Inpatient Network has also been successfully running a series of webinars and has a date for its annual conference of October 19.
• To build on the success of the Safe use of insulin e-learning module, which has now attracted more than 80,000 registrations, we are on the verge of launching a new hypo module as part of our programme of safety courses.
• Also, this summer we have also welcomed on-board ten new Primary Care Quality Improvement Coordinators (PCQICs) to the NHS Diabetes team. They have been recruited to support and encourage improvements in the quality of care for people with diabetes in primary care. They will also facilitate the coordination of activities of the Footcare Network and its constituent organisations in the planning, development and provision of diabetes footcare services across the country.

What a long way we have come since our formation in 2009. We have established a solid reputation in the diabetes community in a relatively short space of time, on the back of our tools, resources, guidance, the networks we have created, our widespread stakeholder engagement and the direct support we have offered to the diabetes community.

Please do share with us your success stories for how you are improving the care for people with diabetes and let us know what NHS Diabetes tools and products you have found useful.

Also let us know if you feel there are any other products or services that you feel could help you to improve care further.

NHS Diabetes has only prospered because of your support. However, this is only the beginning, we still have a long way to go to achieve our ultimate aim of ensuring high-quality diabetes care for all.

If you would like to share any comments or feedback, contact my PA Jasmine Rhys by emailing jasmine.rhys@dakc.nhs.uk.

Anna Morton, Director of NHS Diabetes