Date: Tuesday 25 June 2024
Time: 10:00 (Registration) – 14:30
Location: Craigavon Civic and Conference Centre
Do you have something to say about the future workforce needed to deliver diabetes services in Northern Ireland?
Diabetes Mellitus is a significant long-term health condition and an increasing healthcare concern, both for those people living with diabetes, their family, carers and the professionals providing their healthcare. The number of people living with this condition continues to grow – for example, in Northern Ireland there were nearly 112,000 GP patients aged 17 and over recorded on the Diabetes Mellitus register at 31 March 2023 (Source: https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/publications/202223-raw-disease-prevalence-trend-data-northern-ireland).
A Diabetes Strategic Framework (November 2016) provides the blueprint for diabetes services in Northern Ireland, setting the direction to improve outcomes for people living with diabetes. The Framework recognised that a workforce plan would be necessary to support its implementation. This is in line with our plan to transform health and social care in Northern Ireland, set out in Health and Wellbeing 2026: Delivering Together and the associated Health and Social Care Workforce Strategy 2026: Delivering for Our People.
Since 2022, we have been working on a strategic workforce review to plan for a specialist multi-disciplinary diabetes workforce of the right size, with the right skills, deployed in the right way. This will ensure we can deliver safe, effective and quality diabetes services, based on population need and within our available resources. We have relied on relevant data, evidence and analysis of current and future needs to inform our efforts. We have considered specialist diabetes services provided in hospital and community settings across the lifespan, from children and young people to adult services.
This strategic workforce review focuses on the specialist multi-disciplinary diabetes workforce, including support staff, providing diabetes services. This includes the following staff groups: medical, nursing, midwifery, dietetics, podiatry, pharmacy and psychology.
Have you experience of specialist diabetes services? What are your thoughts on how to ensure we have the specialist multi-disciplinary diabetes workforce that we need to deliver safe, effective and quality diabetes services into the future?
You may be a healthcare professional, worker or volunteer in any sector, a service user or carer. Whatever your interest, as a stakeholder, we want to hear your views about the future specialist diabetes workforce needed to deliver diabetes services.
The Diabetes Programme of Care Strategic Workforce Review Stakeholder Engagement Event will be held on Tuesday 25 June 2024 (10:00 – 14:30) in Craigavon Civic and Conference Centre.
A light lunch will be provided at the event. Service users/carers will be able to claim reasonable travelling and other expenses necessary to facilitate participation in this event.
Please register to book your place now by completing the following form and e-mailing it to gerard.tinney@health-ni.gov.uk or calling (028) 9052 3233 on or before 17:00 on Friday 7 June 2024.
We will need your:
- name;
- position/role or the fact that you are a service user/carer;
- organisation (if relevant);
- e-mail address;
- telephone number;
- postal address (only if you want us to communicate with you by post); and
- special requirements e.g. dietary or access needs, to attend the event (if any).
Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.
You will receive a full information pack in advance to enable you to take part in discussion during the event.
You can find more details of how we process your personal information in the Privacy Notice at this link: Workforce Policy Directorate – Diabetes Programme of Care Strategic Workforce Review – Stakeholder Engagement Event – 25 June 2024 – Privacy Notice | Department of Health (health-ni.gov.uk).