Sheffield’s Diabetes Action Hub on Type 2 is a Lottery funded cross-city and cross sector project bringing together local communities, the NHS, the City Council, Sheffield Hallam University, Diabetes UK and other charities to examine and address what it would take to transform Sheffield into a city without type 2.
The Action Hub prioritises partnership working to reduce health inequalities and improve health and wellbeing – which are often influenced by social, economic, and environmental factors. The project aim is to use the power of collective action to address complex health problems.
For more details contact Adam Batty at VAS (Voluntary Action Sheffield) who is co-ordinating the project:
Email A.Batty@vas.co.uk
Artificial Pancreas Technology to be offered to diabetes patients
Tens of thousands of people with type 1 diabetes in England are to be offered a new technology, dubbed an artificial pancreas’
A glucose sensor under the skin automatically calculates how much insulin is delivered via a pump. Later this month, the NHS will start contacting adults and children who could benefit from this.
There is a five year plan to roll out the technology. Nice recommends its use for those with type 1 who are in certain categories, including children and under-18s, pregnant women, and those with a HbA1c reading (a way of recording long-term blood sugar levels) of 58 mmol/mol, or 7.5%, or higher. To see more, visit BBC News website:
Diabetes patients to be offered artificial-pancreas technology - BBC News
BetterPoints Sheffield
You can earn rewards and win prizes when you choose to make healthier and more environmentally friendly journeys around Sheffield. Download the free app to begin.
Click below for details;
BetterPoints Sheffield - inspiring healthier journeys
If you would like to take part in this research, the link to complete the form is: https://bit.ly/3S2yQJ4 and participants can also phone to complete the survey if they're not online 0179 260 8157.
Looking back over 2023, and Looking forward to 2024
The Diabetes UK Sheffield Group AGM was held on Thursday 25 January 2024. This was a hybrid format meeting with 11 attendees at Houlden Hall and 8 on line via the zoom platform. One apology for absence was noted.
Our Chairperson Shirley opened the meeting and welcomed everyone in attendance and outlined the format of the evening.
The minutes of the last AGM meeting 2023 were approved with no matters arising.
The next item - Chairs report, Shirley highlighted the very successful year for the group. Briefly comprising of monthly meetings with speakers on all aspects of diabetes, two well received one day events, several attendances at gala’s and community wellbeing events.
For a full copy of the Chairs report click here.
David (treasurer) outlined the financial position of the group, detailing income from raffles, donations, collections and events against expenditure for admin, room hire and events.
For a full copy of treasures report click here.
The secretary’s given by Linsay outlined the success of group activities, briefly comprising of 14 group meetings, 12 committee meetings, two one day events, lots of community events, Carers days, conference attendance and working with other bodies. The popular group News Brief has 531 subscribers with a steady monthly increase.
The final agenda item was the election of officers and roles. (Se About Us page for details)
The group has enjoyed a very successful year and look forward to repeating this success in 2024.
Have you considered helping out with committee meetings, monthly meetings and or day events? We are a friendly volunteer group always in need of additional help and new ideas. If you have skills in social media, publishing, editorial or general help at meetings and events, we would like to hear from you. You can contact the group email on diabetesuk.sheffield@gmail.com
People with diabetes needed for Research Projects
Have you ever had a foot ulcer?
If you are willing to take part in a research project for people with diabetes who have experienced foot ulcers please click here.
Do you have Metabolic Syndrome?
If so, please consider taking part in some research being conducted by Sheffield Hallam University
Metabolic Syndrome is a mixture of 3 or more of these factors:
• High blood pressure
• High blood sugar (glucose)
• Larger waistline
• High triglycerides (a type of blood fat)
• Low HDL ‘good’ cholesterol
The research involves a short survey and interview.
DIABETES DICTIONARY
DIGIBETE have produced a very useful Diabetes Dictionary.
Can zoo poo can help you?
Brenda Riley, one of our Committee Members, was recently interviewed by ITV News for a feature on research into treatment for diabetic foot ulcers. Professor Graham Stafford is looking into how viruses extracted from zoo poo can be used to attack the bacteria which cause diabetic foot ulcers. The lemurs at Yorkshire Wildlife Park are providing samples of poo for him to work on.
Brenda has written about her experience of being interviewed:
New NICE recommendations on hybrid closed-loop systems
for type 1 diabetes
An announcement by the National Institute of Health Care and Excellence (NICE) on 7 November outlined details of who will be offered hybrid closed-loop technology in England and Wales and how it will be rolled out over the coming years.
Under the new recommendations, hybrid closed-loop has been recommended for adults living with type 1 diabetes who have an HbA1c of 58 mmol/mol (7.5%) or higher, or have disabling hypoglycaemia, despite best possible management with at least one of the following: continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion, i.e. an insulin pump; real-time continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), e.g. Dexcom/Libre 3; and intermittently scanned continuous glucose monitoring, Libre 2.
Hybrid closed-loop has also been recommended for: children and young people (under 18 years old) living with type 1 diabetes; and people living with type 1 diabetes who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy.
The guidance goes on to say that hybrid closed-loop systems should only be used with the support of a trained multidisciplinary team experienced in insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitoring in type 1 diabetes. It also says that eligible people and their carers should be able to use them safely and either be offered an approved structured education programme or know how to manage insulin dosing and adjustments.
The final document will be subject to appeals and challenges until 28th November, and when this is concluded the final guidance will be prepared for publication. This is expected to published in December.
Guidance for NICE technical appraisals applies to England and Wales but can also be taken up in Northern Ireland. Scotland already has guidance for hybrid closed-loop systems and will continue to implement this.
Colette Marshall, Chief Executive of Diabetes UK, and Professor Partha Kar, diabetes specialty adviser for diabetes at NHS, have both welcomed these developments.
The Patient Access Diabetes Hub is an excellent resource of articles containing advice on how to alter your diet and improve your health while living with diabetes.
VIDEOS OF RECENT SHEFFIELD DIABETES UK GROUP MEETINGS
For the benefit of people who can't make it to meetings, and for those who would like to hear the speakers again, video recordings of recent meetings can be viewed on our YouTube channel.
Sheffield’s Sweet Enough is a campaign run by Sheffield City Council and partners to help local families, food businesses, schools and healthcare professionals tackle the harms caused by eating too much sugar.
Together with our partners, which includes the NHS, Sheffield’s universities, colleges, Trading Standards and the voluntary sector, we’re here to share helpful facts, sugar swaps, tips and advice for all ages.
100 Years of Insulin
It is 100 years since insulin was discovered by Sir Frederick Banting, Charles Best and JJR Macleod. Since then the lives of millions of people diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes have been saved., CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE DIABETES UK WEBSITE READ MORE ABOUT THE STORY OF INSULIN.
There is an article in the November 2021 issue of The Lancet, written by Sheffield's own Professor Simon Heller along with Arthur Durrant and Nikhil Tandon entitled "Insulin, the patient and the health professional". This is all about how the discovery of insulin revolutionised the treatment of diabetes making it no longer a death sentence for those diagnosed.
Click the button on the right to read the article.
DIABETES AND FOOD
We held an event on Diabetes and Food on 20 November 2021.
See the Events Page for a report on the day.
Video Library
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals have a series of videos covering different aspects of diabetes, including topics such as carbohydrate counting, getting your eyes checked, hypos, living with diabetes, complications, preparing for pregnancy etc.
