The aim of these guidelines is to improve the safety of the in hospital management of diabetes. Diabetes care is very individualised, especially if that person is using insulin. It follows that the person with the greatest expertise in managing diabetes is commonly the individual themselves. Allowing patients to self manage their diabetes in hospital should significantly improve patient safety. The correct support structures need to be provided to ensure that this is properly monitored but this must be done without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
These guidelines, produced by the Joint British Diabetes Societies - Inpatient Care Group (JBDS-IP), emphasise that, at all stages of care in hospital the patient should remain in charge of their diabetes care unless there is a specific reason not to.
They are intended for use by all healthcare professionals who are involved in the delivery of diabetes care in hospital.
JBDS-IP is supported by Diabetes UK, the Association of British Clinical Diabetologists (ABCD) and the Diabetes Inpatient Specialist Nurse UK Group. The aim of JBDS-IP is to improve inpatient diabetes care throughout the UK. This is mainly through the development and use of high quality evidence based guidelines, and through better inpatient care pathways.
