Diabetes UK appoints champions to drive improvements in care across the UK

Twenty new 'diabetes champions' who will push to eradicate differences in care for people living with the condition have been recruited by a national charity.

Diabetes UK has made the appointments from across the primary, secondary and community care sectors.

The new champions include Debora Brown, a specialist diabetes nurse who will serve the Yorkshire and northern region.

The new appointments bring the total number of champions in the UK to 29, after an inital set of appointments last year.

The post lasts two years and its aim is to promote the needs of people with diabetes to commissioners, service managers and healthcare professionals.

Improvements made so far by the scheme include creating a simple algorithm across four clinical commissioning groups in Birmingham to ensure patients receive equal access to diabetes treatment regardless of where they live.

Chris Askew, chief executive of Diabetes UK, said: ‘There is a diabetes crisis in the UK with 3.9 million people living with the condition, 590,000 of whom don’t realise it as they have not yet been diagnosed.

‘As such the champions have an essential role to play in promoting and delivering on innovative best practice.’

The appointments are funded by pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk.

Read more on the scheme on the Diabetes UK website.