Prize winning diabetes initiatives demonstrate both improved patient outcomes and cost savings to the NHS

In partnership with NHS England, Janssen is delighted to announce the three winning diabetes teams who will share a £200,000 prize fund in 2015.

Janssen has sponsored two challenge prizes in the annual NHS Innovation scheme which aims to drive the spread and adoption of home-grown innovation across the NHS:

• Challenge 1 looked for ventures that could demonstrate improved outcomes and enhanced quality of life for people with Type 1 (T1) or Type 2 (T2) diabetes through the implementation of integrated care services
• Challenge 2 sought innovative solutions to help improve diabetes outcomes amongst black and minority ethnic (BME) communities, for whom the prevalence of T2 diabetes is up to six times greater compared to the UK’s white population¹

In light of the high quality of the entries, the judging panel decided to nominate two winners for Challenge 1, so in all, three teams will now benefit from the financial reward. In addition to providing £200,000 in prize money, Janssen is also offering a programme of mentoring for the winners. This support will not only help to raise the profile of the winning initiatives, but aims to secure their long-term sustainability.

Challenge 1 winners

King’s College Hospital will receive £50,000 to support their project aimed at T1 diabetes patients. Entitled ‘3 Dimensions of Care for Diabetes’ or ‘3DFD’, the programme aims to bridge the gap between mental, social and clinical care that prevents people from using available services.

The skill-set of the existing multi-disciplinary team has been bolstered with a psychiatrist, community support workers and trained volunteers resulting in greater patient engagement and a 45% fall in the number of sufferers resorting to unscheduled emergency care. The analysis indicated that not only did this improve patient outcomes but a saving of £850 per patient per year was made.

The prize money will be used to roll-out further 3DFD pilot projects as well as introduce an electronic register trial to test the diabetes care pathway in action and establish a new e-learning model to help manage early symptoms of depression. 

A further £50,000 is being awarded to the team at Hillingdon Hospital who decided to take their T1 diabetes service to the schools of the children and young people most affected. A first for the UK, the outreach team is working with six local schools to run the clinics and has recorded a 98% attendance rate and reduced their ‘Did not attend’ rating from 30% to almost zero.

Over the next few months the team is looking for ways to extend the scheme to community centres, youth clubs and GP practices in addition to expanding the scope beyond diabetes, to include asthma and obesity.

Challenge 2 winner

A South Asian Specialist Intervention (SASI) pilot by the George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust and Apnee Seehat is the benefactor of £100,000 funding and mentoring support. Working with GP surgeries in the West Midlands, culturally trained diabetes specialists connect with patients who are at high risk of T2 diabetes or who have poorly managed symptoms, through telephone consultations and outpatient clinics. The SASI assessments, screening and follow up care has been shown to cost half that of a hospital appointment with other benefits including ‘future patient’ prevention and engaging a typically ‘hard to reach’ community.

Celebrating success

“We’re proud to partner once again with NHS England on the NHS Innovation Challenge Prizes,” commented Mark Hicken, Managing Director of Janssen, UK & Ireland. “This year’s winners demonstrate the enthusiasm and motivation within the NHS to modernise healthcare delivery and provide better, more effective care at a lower cost to society. The winning programmes prove that integrated, personalised care can really make a difference.”

More information on the winning projects can be found at http://www.england.nhs.uk/challengeprizes/. 

1. Diabetes UK and South Asian Health Foundation “Diabetes UK and South Asian Health Foundation recommendations on diabetes research priorities for British South Asians” (2009)