Developing quality structured education in diabetes
Providing award-winning training
DESMOND Training and quality development programme wins Skills for Health sponsored Health Service Journal award
The Health Service Journal Awards at the end of November celebrated UK healthcare at its best - including recognising those at the leading edge of healthcare training via a ‘Skills Development’ award sponsored by Skills for Health.
The winner of the award was the DESMOND (Diabetes Education for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed) programme - a training and quality development programme for facilitators delivering patient self-management education.
The programme has been running for three years and provides Type 2 Diabetes sufferers with the knowledge, skills and supporting resources to successfully self-manage their condition. It involves six hours of structured education and is delivered by two trained healthcare professional educators in a unique style developed by a multidisciplinary task group of professionals, academics and people with diabetes.
One of the keys to the programme’s success is the training itself - the benefits of which were proven during a randomised controlled trial funded by Diabetes UK. Individuals are put forward by their employing trust to become potential DESMOND educators. The response has been excellent and by June 2007 the training had already produced over 350 graduates in 67 primary care organisations across the UK.
Another crucial element is the support provided by the DESMOND national programme team. This central infrastructure has facilitated the growth of the training programme, provided project management, and ensured tasks were accomplished to deadline.
John Rogers - Chief Executive of Skills for Health - commented:
“The DESMOND programme is a very worthy national award winner and a credit to all those involved. Not only does the programme promote new skills in professional development, it also illustrates high quality practice in patient care and education. I hope that this award will go some way to helping the programme achieve widespread recognition as a model to be emulated across a broad range of areas.”
Marian Carey – National Director, DESMOND Programme - added:
“This very prestigious award means so much to our trainers; I can’t begin to describe it. Because they are individuals contributing across organisational boundaries as part of DESMOND, it’s difficult for them to generate a high profile in their own service, so they probably don’t receive the recognition they deserve. Sometimes there may even be a negative perception, because their involvement is outside of their service. This national recognition is a real validation of their work. I am delighted for all of them and very proud of their achievement.”
Summing up their comments about the win, the awards the judges said:
“This programme is highly relevant to the NHS of 2007 and very impressive.”
About Skills for Health
Skills for Health (SfH) is the Sector Skills Council for UK health, funded by the four UK health departments in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales; the Sector Skills Development Agency; the education act regulatory bodies; and health sector employers and providers.
The 25 Sector Skills Councils which make up the Skills for Business Network are licensed by the Secretary of State for Education and Skills in consultation with Ministers from the devolved administrations. Each one has a sector ‘footprint’ and central goals to address skills gaps and shortages; improve productivity and performance; increase opportunities to boost skills; and improve learning supply.
Skills for Health’s sector footprint covers the entire National Health Service, and the whole of the independent and voluntary healthcare sectors across the UK - which collectively employ approximately 2 million people. The majority of occupations are linked to hospital activities and community health services, but the sector also includes general medical and dental practitioners and healthcare professionals working in nursing homes and private surgeries, and retail outlets such as pharmacists, opticians and self-employed practitioners.
The overarching remit of Skills for Health is to ultimately help improve health and healthcare by assisting the whole healthcare sector in developing solutions which deliver a skilled and flexible UK workforce.
Specific Skills for Health aims are to:
- Profile the UK healthcare sector workforce
- Develop and manage national workforce competences across the UK healthcare sector
- Influence UK education and training supply to meet healthcare sector needs
- Improve the workforce skills of the UK healthcare sector
- Work with partners to achieve these aims
Further information about Skills for Health and its work can be found at www.skillsforhealth.org.uk
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