The Rowan Hillson Inpatient Safety Award 2018 for the best inpatient diabetes educational programme for healthcare professionals

Abstract

Introduction: The annual National Diabetes Inpatient Audit (NaDIA) in the UK continues to show a high incidence of insulin errors in patients admitted to hospital with diabetes. It is clear that new initiatives are urgently required to mitigate this risk.

Method: The Joint British Diabetes Societies for Inpatient Care (JBDS-IP) organised the fifth national Rowan Hillson Inpatient Safety Award on the theme of the best inpatient diabetes educational initiative to improve patient safety in hospitals.

Result: The winner was Kath Higgins and the team from the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust for their ITS Diabetes – Inpatient Diabetes Training & Support programme – an educational toolkit accessible to medical, nursing and pharmacy staff. Components included face-to-face training, e-learning module, monthly newsletter social media communications with competency document and flashcards. The initiative reduced insulin errors and in-hospital diabetic ketoacidosis. There were two teams in second position. Michael Lloyd and colleagues from St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust received the award for their individualised and shared insulin prescribing error feedback system, Safe Insulin TipS (SIPS), and multi-professional simulation-based training. Ruth Miller and colleagues in North West London were commended for the project to implement Diabetes 10 Point Training in Acute Hospitals across North West London. This clinically-based teaching programme provided quick training specifically designed for all hospital settings to address the commonest diabetes errors.

Conclusion: These and similar schemes need to be developed, promoted and shared to reduce insulin errors in hospitalised patients with diabetes.