Last Chance For PCTs To Take Part In Groundbreaking User Involvement Project, UK

Main Category: Diabetes
Article Date: 28 Jul 2009 - 7:00 PDT

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Following the announcement that Diabetes UK and NHS Diabetes have joined forces to deliver an innovative project that will support three PCTs in England to develop effective user involvement approaches in diabetes care, the charity has received an excellent response from PCTs wanting to get involved.

In order to meet the demand, Diabetes UK has decided to extend the deadline for initial expressions of interest to take part in the project from 31 July to the 7 August. The 'User Involvement in Local Diabetes Care' project will develop partnerships locally to create and support structured, systematic and sustainable user involvement in all aspects of diabetes care.

User involvement allows people living with diabetes to influence the decisions taken about the services the NHS provides. These partnerships will provide support tailored to local need. In the later stages the project will share learning and good practice examples with services across the UK.

"We want to make sure that the knowledge and experience of people with diabetes is respected, valued and drawn upon to influence and shape diabetes care," said Corinne McCrum, Project Manager for the User Involvement in Local Diabetes Care project at Diabetes UK. "This innovative project is extremely exciting and we would encourage as many organisations as possible to apply.

"We strongly believe that such partnerships will help them meet their obligations to involve and lead to better care for people with diabetes. We hope that extending the deadline will give many more PCTs the opportunity to express their interest in working with us on this exciting project."

Anna Morton, Director of NHS Diabetes, said: "Service user involvement in the design and delivery of diabetes services at a local level is a core principle that underpins the work of NHS Diabetes. This innovative project will help us to make that happen, not only in the three project areas but more broadly through the lessons we learn."

If you think your organisation would like to get involved or you would like more information, visit http://www.diabetes.org.uk/localinvolvement or email Corinne McCrum at corinne.mccrum@diabetes.org.uk.

Source
Diabetes UK

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