Diabetes UK: Year of Care conference tomorrow, speakers confirmed

Tuesday, 14, Oct 2008 12:00

Mark Britnell, Director-General for Commissioning and System Management at the NHS; Rowan Hillson, the new National Clinical Director for Diabetes; and Sue Roberts, Chair of the Year of Care Programme Board, will tomorrow (15 October) speak at the Year of Care Conference at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster.

This free one day conference - ¿Getting to Grips with the Year of Care: Delivering Personalised Care¿ - will introduce the Year of Care programme and discuss its relevance to current National Health Service (NHS), Department of Health and Voluntary Sector agendas. Framed within the recent NHS Next Stage Review and the Department of Health¿s World Class Commissioning programme, the Year of Care will provide an opportunity to explore how personalised care can be delivered to people with long-term conditions at an individual and population level.

Learning from the current Year of Care pilot sites will be presented and a resource will be launched to support other areas who wish to implement a Year of Care approach to the provision of care for people with long-term conditions.

The intention is to both challenge the assumptions and learning of the Year of Care, and see how this approach can stimulate and provide a laboratory for new thinking relevant to all long-term conditions.

National Clinical Director of Diabetes, Dr Rowan Hillson MBE, said:

"This is a very important project which has the potential to really change the lives of people with diabetes."

"I believe that every person with diabetes deserves the highest standard of personalised care no matter where, when or by whom that care is delivered, and the Year of Care aims to achieve this."

Sue Roberts, chair of the Year of Care programme board, said:

"This is about changing the nature of care, introducing care planning into the mainstream as part of routine care."

"The Year of Care aims to really support the individual so that they have the best care available to them and have a say in their healthcare."

"Of course this is a huge challenge, but if we can get this right it has the potential to revolutionise the way diabetes care is delivered and improve the lives of people living with diabetes."

If you would like to attend, please click here for further details. Alternatively, phone Huw Beale at Diabetes UK on 020 7424 1152.

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For further media information, please contact Huw Beale or Maria Lam at Diabetes UK Press office on 0207 424 1165 or email pressteam@diabetes.org.uk. For urgent out of hours media enquiries, please call 07711 176 028.

Notes to editor

1 Diabetes UK is the charity for people with diabetes. We fund more than £7 million of medical research every year, provide information and support to people with diabetes and campaign on their behalf. For more information visit www.diabetes.org.uk.

2 In the UK, there are currently 2.3 million people diagnosed with diabetes and it is estimated that more than half a million people have the condition but do not know it.

3 The Diabetes UK Careline (0845 120 2960) offers information and support on any aspect of managing diabetes. The line is a lo-call number and opens Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm (operates a translation service). Recorded information on a number of diabetes-related topics is also available on this number 24 hours a day.

4 Membership of Diabetes UK is from £22 a year with special rates available. In addition to our bi-monthly magazine Balance, members receive support and the latest information on diabetes care and treatments to help them live a healthy life.