Diabetes

  • Treating and caring for patients with diabetes.

  • Address: Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells hospitals,

What we do

We provide a patient-centred integrated service between primary and secondary care. We also provides specialist secondary care services.

Our patient services include:

  • Joint pregnancy clinics with consultants and diabetes nurses
  • Insulin infusion work
  • Use of continuous glucose meters to identify patient problems
  • Renal clinic
  • Close work with the podiatry service
  • Transitional clinics for young people moving from paediatric (children’s) to adult clinics.

We are also looking to establish obesity diabetes clinics.

Links with primary care organisations

We have close links with GP surgeries in the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells area, many of which initiate insulin therapy.

We also work to ensure consistent policies and protocols throughout the area; for example, to develop consistent insulin guidelines.

We are heavily involved in professional development for GPs and practice nurses, to encourage insulin initiation in primary care.

A rolling programme of education is also being developed in collaboration with our colleagues in GP practices, such as Dose Adjusted for Normal Eating (DAFNE) and self-management for newly diagnosed people for diabetes (DESMOND).

Outpatients

Well-established, nurse-led clinics run daily in both diabetes centres.

They treat diabetic patients with complex problems such as physical, psychological or visual impairment.

They also help to establish complex patients on insulin and regularly advise GPs and practice nurses regarding care in surgery.

Inpatients

Our well-established inpatient service is supported by a team of diabetes nurses. Taking a multi-disciplinary team approach, our aim is to enable the patient to be discharged from hospital and to provide education and support to ensure a safe recovery after they have left hospital.

Children

Our paediatric (children's) diabetes service provides ongoing care for children and their families, and other carers, e.g. teachers.

For further information visit Diabetes UK