Healthcare teams from all over the UK came together at the Leicester Diabetes Centre (LDC) to celebrate the DESMOND Awards last week.
DESMOND (Diabetes Education and Self-Management for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed) is a national education programme dedicated to providing support and self-management tools for people with, or at risk of, type 2 diabetes, and other long-term conditions.
Set up in 2003, the DESMOND central team are currently celebrating 20 years of the programme.
Alison Northern, Implementation Lead for LDC, explains: “The DESMOND Awards provide an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the individuals and teams who go above and beyond to provide the best education for people living with or at risk of developing type 2 diabetes in their communities.
“This year is extra special for us as we are also celebrating 20 years of DESMOND. It was fantastic to be able to share a birthday cake with all our award nominees, nominators and winners.”
Professor Melanie Davies, Co-Director of the LDC, opened the award celebration with a presentation about the future management of type 2 diabetes.
Melanie said: “It is hard to believe it has been 20 years since DESMOND first launched. We are proud of what we have been able to achieve in this time with around 750,000 people with type 2 diabetes having attended a group session and 40,000 digital users from across the 105 healthcare organisations that champion our programme.
“I would like to say a huge thanks to them for continuing to work so hard to make such a difference to the lives of people with and at risk of type 2 diabetes”.
Individuals and teams were nominated by their colleagues. The award categories and winners were:
THE DEIRDRE MCGOWAN EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD, for outstanding commitment to the DESMOND philosophy and principles, making a difference in the lives of people with or at risk of type 2 diabetes.
Winner: Christopher Henry, Diabetes Assistant at South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland
TEAM OF THE YEAR AWARD, for delivering high-quality education to people with or at risk of type 2 diabetes.
Winner: South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland
INNOVATION AWARD, for developing and testing new innovative ideas in their DESMOND service.
Winner: Government of Jersey: Health and Community Services
IMPACT AWARD, for demonstrating meaningful impact on the lives of people with or at risk of type 2 diabetes.
Winner: Northamptonshire Diabetes Multi-Disciplinary Team, and Northamptonshire Healthcare NHSFoundation Trust
EXCELLENCE AWARD, for going above and beyond.
Winner: North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust
Attendees were given the opportunity to participate in three interactive learning sessions with the DESMOND team, covering adapting DESMOND to meet the needs of different populations, sharing good practices in service design and the adaptation and delivery of DESMOND programmes in a ‘post-COVID’ era.
DESMOND is delivered by the Leicester Diabetes Centre, which is answering the global challenge of type 2 diabetes and long-term conditions through world-leading research, education and innovation.
Based at Leicester General Hospital, the 3,000m2 centre is a unique collaboration between the University of Leicester and University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust.