Thank you for rising to the challenge of 2020

2020. It’s been a year to forget, but one we never will forget.
 
Covid-19 has challenged and transformed the health and social care system like never before, with each individual and every team affected in some way by the pandemic.
 
Pathways have been revised, GP surgeries have quickly adapted to the new circumstances and staff have found themselves performing roles they would never have foreseen 12 months ago with agility and professionalism.
 
The emotional impact has been significant on staff, whether it is the distress of dealing directly with very ill patients with Covid-19, or simply the pressures of adapting to a change in circumstances at home. 
 
As we approach the end of the year, we want to say ‘thank you’ to all our network clinicians, our support team, and partners, who have risen to the challenge of this pandemic.
 
It has not been easy during these extreme times, but we are very grateful for everyone’s continued hard work and perseverance during the most testing of circumstances.
 
And now, we look forward to 2021, a year which will hopefully see a slow return to normal life, thanks to the arrival of the Covid-19 vaccine.
 
The Strategic Clinical Networks’ New Year’s resolution remains the same as in previous years and reflects our vision statement: to make health and wellbeing of local people, and the care they receive, comparable with the best in the world.
 
Many thanks for your continued support in 2020.
 
Have a safe, relaxing Christmas and New Year.

Best wishes 

Julie Cheetham - Director 

Dr Peter Elton - Clinical Director 

(please note: the team photo above was taken from a previous Christmas, before Covid-19 and social distancing). 

Respiratory Network

Leading on post Covid-19 syndrome services

Our Respiratory Network has been taking a lead role to describe what post Covid-19 services across Greater Manchester will look like moving forward.

The team is working in collaboration with the Greater Manchester Medical Executive Leadership Team to agree, plan and co-ordinate a Greater Manchester model of care that can be delivered to support local populations, especially those services supporting people with post COVID-19 syndrome (persistent symptoms at 12 weeks and beyond).

The outputs of this work will include a post Covid-19 service specification that describes each level of care, standards of care, and a proposed model of care and with funding to support the model.

The Network’s clinical lead, Dr Jennifer Hoyle, consultant respiratory physician and occupational lung disease lead at Pennine Acute NHS Trust, said: “The work includes collaboration from community, primary and secondary care in order to provide a seamless user experience for anybody suffering with the after effects of Covid-19.

“Everybody is working hard to develop a new model of care that will be in place very quickly, with a focus on quality, learning and a robust governance structure to support it.”

Our respiratory primary care clinical advisor, Dr Raja Murugesan, a GP at John Street Medical Practice, added: “I am really pleased that work has been led and delivered at pace towards setting up clear pathways for the management of our patients with post Covid-19 syndrome.

“As a GP, I am really looking forward to this development and very proud of the collaborative work that has taken place.”

An initial stakeholder workshop was held on Wednesday, 16th December to describe the outline model.

From January 2021, the team will be engaging with a wide range of stakeholders to help support implementation.

Diabetes Network

Tribute to SCNs' friend who helped shape diabetes strategy

Last week, we were saddened to hear about the passing of one of our Patient, Carers and Public representatives, Alan Campbell. Alan worked closely with our diabetes leads between 2015 and 2017, sharing his experience of living with type 1 diabetes.  His views and experiences helped shape the Greater Manchester Diabetes Strategy; in particular our approach to improving diabetes structured education.  Alan also worked with a number of other organisations to improve services for people living with diabetes.  His experience and input has been invaluable and the SCNs team will miss his friendly and personable nature, and infectious humour.

Hi-tech diabetes monitoring offered to pregnant women

Continuous glucose monitors (CGM) are now being offered to all pregnant women living with type 1 diabetes in Greater Manchester.  

A CGM is a small device worn just under the skin which measures glucose levels continuously through the day and sends this information to a display device.

Flash glucose monitoring works in a similar way to CGM except users scan the sensor to check their own blood sugar levels using a mobile app.  

Also, people with learning disabilities living with any type of diabetes will now be eligible for a flash monitor.  Read more details on CGM and flash expansion.

People with type 1 diabetes are also being reminded that they can find services and support on the Diabetes My Way portal.

There are free accredited eLearning courses on: 

• Understanding Type 1
• Growing up with Type1 
• Considering an insulin pimp
• My insulin pump 
• Carbohydrate counting 

You can find more details on Diabetes My Way. Information on uptake of education is fed back for coding on GP practice systems. Also, most patients with access to online services can view their own GP diabetes clinical data by registering at www.diabetesmyway.nhs.uk.

New guidance and toolkit for primary care

Finally, to support primary care to restore diabetes services, guidance has been agreed to support the identification, risk-stratification and review of patients living with diabetes during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Designed to help GP practices manage workload and focus time on those at highest risk, the guidance is available along with a supporting toolkit of resources.