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“I am the Lead Diabetes Nurse at the Trust, responsible for leading the diabetes nursing teams for both inpatients and the community, across both York and Scarborough hospitals.  I am also responsible for the management of the busy Diabetes and Endocrine unit, based at York Hospital, where we see over 200 people each week in our outpatient clinics. 

“When I tell people what I do, many ask me - what actually is diabetes?  There are two types but simply, it is a condition where the amount of sugar in the blood is too high because the body's way of converting glucose into energy is not working as it should - which can cause all kinds of medical conditions. 

“In the UK, around 90% of all adults with diabetes have type 2.  The good news is that type 2 diabetes is largely preventable and about 9 cases in 10 could be avoided by taking simple steps like keeping weight under control, exercise and healthy eating.  It’s not surprising therefore that much of our work focuses on this through structured education training programmes. 

“I am a firm believer in ‘treat others how you would want to be treated yourself’ and this is something I have taken with me throughout my career.  I am now in my 30th year of working in the NHS, starting as an 18 year old student nurse in Manchester.  I have been very lucky in my career to have had the opportunity to work in some large teaching hospitals including Leeds Hospital Trust and Mid Yorkshire Hospital Trust, before finally moving to York just under five years ago.  I live in the area, so to be able to work in my local hospital is a real privilege - especially in a senior nurse position where I can utilise skills and knowledge gained from years of working in the NHS. 

“I’m absolutely passionate about improving diabetes care for our local communities and I strive to ensure standards are of the highest quality by benchmarking us against other diabetes services across the country.  I am also fortunate that I have had the opportunity in my career to represent the Trust at national and international conferences, and last year I joined one of our senior diabetes consultants in Japan to help develop a local diabetes team, designed to deliver diabetes care to the same high standards we pride ourselves on here at the Trust. 

“On a personal note I am incredibly proud to say I work in this organisation and for the NHS.”

09 July 2018

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