One in six patients admitted to hospital has diabetes. Of these 9 out of 10 are not admitted because of their diabetes. However, they experience longer length of stay, higher complication and mortality rates. Medication errors and glucose control issues can contribute to these outcomes. Many patients also experience a sense of loss of control over their diabetes when admitted.
Diabetes Outreach Team (DOT)
The diabetes in-patient team (“Diabetes Outreach Team”) at CUH was formed in 2014 with the aim to build a culture of safe practice and improve patient experience and outcomes, as well as support staff in the management of patients with diabetes.
About us
DOT is a team of specialist nurses, dieticians and a care technician, led by diabetes consultants, who provide a diabetes advisory service for patients admitted to hospital.
What we do
Though diabetes is often not the primary reason for admission, being unwell and treatment related factors can have an impact on the blood glucose levels of some patients.
- We assess and make recommendations to support these patients and their medical team manage blood glucose levels in hospital.
- Patients with previously undiagnosed diabetes or those without diabetes but high glucose levels resulting from their condition/treatment are also seen by the team.
- We provide patients education in diabetes self-management when needed.
- We assess if patients need additional support, to ensure safety or provide continuity, following discharge.
- We will contact the community diabetes specialist nurse or GP practice to hand over information regarding changes made during admission or to alert to any on-going review needs. - We provide telephone follow up calls to ensure patients transition safely to the home environment if needed.
- We have a number of staff education programs and have developed a number of guidelines to enable safe and standardised practices for in-patient diabetes management.
- We regularly participate in national audits and as well as monitor and quality improve our services via internal audit and quality improvement projects.
Working hours
Our core working hours are Monday-Friday 09:00 to 16:00. We also operate a reduced service on Saturday.