Nearly 500 healthcare sites make Hypo Awareness Week a triumph
Hundreds of primary and secondary care sites across the UK and Ireland are taking part in a safety campaign to raise awareness about hypoglycaemia among healthcare professionals.
Teams at nearly 500 sites are taking part in seminars, courses and quizzes, sharing videos and posters promoting best practice and hosting information events as part of Hypo Awareness Week which runs until Sunday, September 17.
More than 600 people also registered for a webinar on ‘Why unavailability of GLP-1 receptor analogues has a knock-on effect, raising the risk of hypoglycaemia’ by Professor Ketan Dhatariya on Tuesday.
Event organiser Emily Mayhew said: “The response to this year’s Hypo Awareness Week has been incredible.
“It’s been great to see Diabetes Teams visiting wards and quizzing colleagues on their hypo knowledge and seeing so many people taking part in online training.
“We’ve also seen sites releasing blogs on the safe use of insulin, hosting information events and creating eye-catching videos and graphics on a range of topics, including driving and diabetes.
“Hypo Awareness Week is vitally important because it gives the diabetes community the chance to roll out education about hypoglycaemia across hospital and primary care settings.
“Everyone who has taken part this year has played a significant role in helping to increase education about the signs, symptoms and treatments of hypos among their non-specialist colleagues.”
Hypoglycaemia – or hypos – occur when a person’s blood glucose level is too low and it must be treated quickly as in severe cases it can be life-threatening.
Between May 2018 and October 2021, 4,255 hospital inpatients with diabetes experienced severe hypoglycaemic episodes which required rescue treatment, according to the National Diabetes Inpatient Safety Audit 2018-2021 for England and Wales.
Participants can share what they have achieved during Hypo Awareness Week by entering into the Hypo Awareness Week Excellence Award.
Entering the awards is easy! All applicants need to do is email emily.mayhew@ojpr.co.uk with the following information:
Name of the trust/organisation
A 250-word summary
Supplementary information (optional)
Pictures (if available).
The deadline for entering this year’s Excellence Award is midday on Friday, September 22.
Hypo Awareness Week is organised by Orange Juice Communications. The project has been funded by GlucoRx, MySugarWatch®️, Sanofi and Vertex Pharmaceuticals which have had no input into any arrangements or content.
This year’s Hypo Awareness Week online resource pack includes posters, leaflets, guidelines, logos, screensavers, a press release template and tips on how participants can organise their week.
Anyone who still wants to take advantage of the online resource pack can register for Hypo Awareness Week at www.hypoawarenessweek.com