The Rowan Hillson Inpatient Safety Award 2019 for the best perioperative pathway for people with diabetes

Introduction: The annual National Diabetes Inpatient Audit (NaDIA) in the UK continues to show a high incidence of insulin errors in patients admitted to hospital with diabetes. New initiatives are urgently required to mitigate this risk.Method: The Joint British Diabetes Societies for Inpatient Care (JBDS-IP) organised the sixth national Rowan Hillson Inpatient Safety Award on the theme of the best perioperative pathway for people with diabetes.Result: The winner was the team from Aneurin Bevan University Health Board led by Dr David Burckett-St Laurent for their innovative re-design of the perioperative pathway by a cross-specialty working group. The main elements of the new system were standardised patient assessment, optimisation of perioperative diabetes control, personalised diabetes management plans generated from a drop-down menu with information on usual drug treatment, pre-op/day of surgery diabetes medication modification, advice on hypoglycaemia management and sick-day rules, anaesthetic review for people with HbA1c >69 mmol/mol, secondary care diabetes review for people with suboptimal diabetes control, new inpatient charts with guidance on diabetes drug management, streamlining of time and place of admission and greater engagement and education of people with diabetes and staff looking after them. This resulted in significant improvement in outcomes and reduction in risks.The Newcastle upon Tyne NHS Foundation Trust team led by Dr Nicola Leech and colleagues received the runners-up award for their 3-year quality improvement project involving multiple specialties. The project included development of trust-wide policies and protocols, educational initiatives, targeted diabetes specialist nurse in-reach, innovative electronic whiteboard alerts for glycaemic control and electronic hypo alerts. The result was a reduction in insulin errors and hypoglycaemia on surgical wards by over 50%, a reduction in Datix incidents and fewer patients suffering harm events.Summary and conclusion: These and similar schemes need to be developed, promoted and shared to reduce insulin errors in hospitalised patients with diabetes.

Bridging the Gap Between Individualized Inpatient Safety Planning and Postdischarge Efficacy

INTRODUCTION Implementation of programs that increase both psychiatric patient education and their involvement in treatment programming can lead to positive outcomes postdischarge. Patients involved in programs focusing on skills, recovery, and that are individualized show a reduction in symptoms as well as an increase in engagement, treatment, and recovery posthospitalization. AIMS This quality improvement project examines (1) the effectiveness of a safety planning group on an inpatient psychiatric unit for developing individualized safety plans, (2) the usefulness of the safety plans upon discharge, and (3) how helpful the patient found them. METHODS A standardized safety plan was presented during 1-hour groups on an adult inpatient unit. Completed safety plans scored using a rubric to determine how patients individualized the content. One week postdischarge, patients were contacted to determine location and use of the safety plan since discharge. RESULTS Patient’s ( n = 124) safety plans were relatively individualized when compared to the standardized safety plan (mean [ SD] = 32.85 [8.27] on a 44-point rating). Of those patients who were contacted postdischarge ( n = 76), 73 (96.1%) had a copy of their safety plan 1-week postdischarge while 28 (36.8%) reported using their safety plan since discharge. Many of the patients who used their safety plan reported that it was helpful ( n = 19; 67.9%). CONCLUSIONS Developing a safety plan can be a helpful tool for individuals admitted to a psychiatric inpatient unit.

The Rowan Hillson Inpatient Safety Award 2018 for the best inpatient diabetes educational programme for healthcare professionals

Introduction: The annual National Diabetes Inpatient Audit (NaDIA) in the UK continues to show a high incidence of insulin errors in patients admitted to hospital with diabetes. It is clear that new initiatives are urgently required to mitigate this risk.Method: The Joint British Diabetes Societies for Inpatient Care (JBDS-IP) organised the fifth national Rowan Hillson Inpatient Safety Award on the theme of the best inpatient diabetes educational initiative to improve patient safety in hospitals.Result: The winner was Kath Higgins and the team from the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust for their ITS Diabetes – Inpatient Diabetes Training & Support programme – an educational toolkit accessible to medical, nursing and pharmacy staff. Components included face-to-face training, e-learning module, monthly newsletter social media communications with competency document and flashcards. The initiative reduced insulin errors and in-hospital diabetic ketoacidosis. There were two teams in second position. Michael Lloyd and colleagues from St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust received the award for their individualised and shared insulin prescribing error feedback system, Safe Insulin TipS (SIPS), and multi-professional simulation-based training. Ruth Miller and colleagues in North West London were commended for the project to implement Diabetes 10 Point Training in Acute Hospitals across North West London. This clinically-based teaching programme provided quick training specifically designed for all hospital settings to address the commonest diabetes errors.Conclusion: These and similar schemes need to be developed, promoted and shared to reduce insulin errors in hospitalised patients with diabetes.

Peptide Shuttle-Mediated Delivery for Brain Gene Therapies

The manipulation of an individual’s genetic information to treat a disease has revolutionized the biomedicine field. Despite the promise of gene therapy, this treatment can have long-term sideeffects. Efforts in the field and recent discoveries have already led to several improvements, including efficient gene delivery and transfer, as well as inpatient safety. Several studies to treat a wide range of pathologies-such as cancer or monogenic diseases- are currently being conducted. Here we provide a broad overview of methodologies available for gene therapy, placing a strong emphasis on treatments for central nervous system diseases. Finally, we give a perspective on current delivery strategies to treat such diseases, with a special focus on systems that use peptides as delivery vectors.