New diabetes safety training aims to reduce avoidable inpatient harm

The Cambridge Diabetes Education Programme (CDEP) has launched a new competency-based training topic to give hospital trusts a practical, scalable and auditable way to equip staff with essential diabetes safety knowledge.

For non-specialist staff, recognising and responding appropriately to hypoglycaemia, hyperglycaemic emergencies, insulin-related risks and problems associated with diabetes technology can make a critical difference to patient safety.

CDEP has launched Inpatient Diabetes Safety Essentials specifically for non-specialist inpatient staff – the training focuses on the practical knowledge they need to recognise risk, act safely and escalate promptly when specialist support is required.

CDEP Lead Candice Ward said: “A missed insulin dose, an untreated hypo or a failure to recognise developing DKA can cause serious harm very quickly.

“This training focuses on the essential safety issues staff need to recognise at the bedside, while remaining short enough to incorporate into mandatory training. For trusts, it offers a consistent way to provide essential diabetes safety training across large and diverse workforces.” 

The new Inpatient Diabetes Safety Essentials topic provides:

·      Standardised, competency-based training suitable for staff across wards, professions and hospital sites

·      Bite-sized online learning available 24/7

·      Delivery through the CDEP website or through a trust’s Electronic Staff Record (ESR) or Learning Management System (LMS)

·      Certification and evidence of completion, with aggregated uptake and outcome reporting available to training leads

·      The ability to assign the training to defined staff groups as essential or mandatory learning

·      Clear progression to more detailed CDEP topics according to staff role and responsibility. 

Inpatient Diabetes Safety Essentials focuses on four high-priority areas:

·      Recognising, preventing and responding appropriately to hypoglycaemia

·      Recognising hyperglycaemic emergencies and knowing when urgent escalation is required

·      Reducing insulin-related errors and supporting safer insulin use

·      Recognising and responding to safety issues associated with diabetes technology in hospital.

Consultant Nurse at Frimley Health, Claire Henke, who helped to develop the new topic with CDEP, said: “Inpatient Diabetes Safety Essentials has been designed to provide the foundation knowledge non-specialist staff need in a practical and accessible way. By increasing awareness of key risks, we can help staff recognise problems earlier, respond appropriately and escalate when needed.”

Frimley Health has already seen the benefit of its staff taking part in CDEP training. Around 80 per cent of its inpatient staff have completed training on hypoglycaemia and it has seen improvements in how hypoglycaemia is managed.

Claire added: “This demonstrates how even a short training session can provide an important reminder of best practice and support safer care for people with diabetes in hospital.”

A practical response to a workforce-wide safety challenge

For NHS trusts, the challenge is ensuring that large numbers of staff across different wards, professions and sites understand the essential diabetes safety messages and can apply them in everyday practice. CDEP provides a ready-made, quality-assured and auditable way to deliver that training consistently across the relevant workforce.

Inpatient Diabetes Safety Essentials provides a baseline level of safety training. Staff who require greater depth can then progress to more detailed CDEP learning, including Safe Use of Insulin, Hypoglycaemia, Blood Glucose Monitoring, Ketone Monitoring and Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM), according to their role and responsibilities.

To learn more, visit www.cdep.org.uk

Hospital trusts which want to learn more about deploying CDEP, ESR/LMS integration or which want to arrange a demonstration, can email info@cdep.org.uk