Health professionals from Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust’s diabetes services will be taking part in a national drive to raise awareness of hypoglycaemia, a short-term complication of diabetes, in a bid to improve staff knowledge and patient care.

Staff will be taking part in a seven day campaign to raise awareness about, and reduce episodes of, the condition as part of Hypo Awareness Week, which runs from 2-8 October.

Hypoglycaemia, also known as a hypo, happens when the blood glucose levels of people with diabetes drop too low and, as a result, feel shaky and unwell and risk slipping into a coma.

Sue Dermott from the Preston Diabetes Service at Lancashire Care said: “We’re delighted to be supporting Hypo Awareness Week at the Trust. We’re continuously working to raise awareness about hypoglycaemia and linking in with other organisations. We will be asking staff and people living with diabetes how best to treat hypos and what they expect staff to know about hypo prevention and treatment.”

Staff from the Trust have been distributing resources, leaflets, guidelines to help raise awareness about hypoglycaemia and will have stands at Minerva Health Centre in Preston and Royal Preston Hospital throughout the week to raise staff awareness of hypoglycaemia.

Around one in six hospitals beds are occupied by a person with diabetes (17 percent), according to the 2016 results of the National Diabetes Inpatient Audit. Latest results from the bedside survey show that hypoglycaemic episodes in hospitals, both mild and severe, have decreased from 26 percent in 2011 to 20 percent in 2016.

Hypo Awareness Week has been taking place annually since 2012 and, during this period, the prevalence of all hypoglycaemic episodes in hospitals has decreased by six percent, according to the 2016 National Diabetes Inpatient Audit report (NaDIA).

For more information on Hypo Awareness Week, visit: www.hypoawarenessweek.com.

To learn more about DESMOND and the dietetics team visit www.lancashirecare.nhs.uk/DESMOND.