A multi-faceted approach improves inpatient diabetes care at a tertiary hospital

Abstract

Background/aims: The results of the National Diabetes Inpatient Audit in 2013 showed that the Royal London Hospital had performed worse than the national average in several domains. The aim of this study was to improve inpatient diabetes care at the Royal London Hospital.

Methods: A multi-faceted intervention was designed via a Commission for Quality and Innovation workstream which spanned from April 2014 to March 2016. The National Diabetes Inpatient Audit results of 2013, 2016 and 2019 were compared to look at the outcomes and analyse the changes brought about by the intervention.

Results: There were statistically significant improvements in medication errors, prescription errors, glucose management errors and insulin errors in 2016 and 2019 as compared to 2013. More inpatients with diabetes were visited by the diabetes team, received foot assessment and patient feedback improved in both 2016 and 2019 as compared to 2013.

Conclusions: A multi-faceted approach led to significant improvements in patient outcomes and experience, resulting in Royal London Hospital performing well above the national average in the National Diabetes Inpatient Audit in 2016 and 2019. This simple consultant-led multidisciplinary approach could be replicated in other hospitals in UK facing similar challenges.

Keywords: Diabetes care plan; Inpatient diabetes; Quality improvement.