On April 21st LIH PhD student Sam Cooke attended the Lets Talk Diabetes event at The New Life Centre in Sleaford. The event was well attended by Lincolnshire patients who were given the opportunity to discuss the future of diabetes services with NHS colleagues. In Lincolnshire, 49,000 people are living with Diabetes, which is approximately 8 per cent of the population which is higher than the national average. Currently, patients with diabetes have access to a number of support programmes such as Diabetes UK’s ‘Living with Diabetes days’. However, under future visions for the health system, experts wanted to hear from patients about what additional support could be put in place to improve their experience. Dr David Sheehan, lead GP for Diabetes in Lincolnshire, said the event was a great opportunity for the health system to discover what patients want to be put in place. It was also a great opportunity for the University to engage with the local community, and over a third of patients said they would like to know more about the diabetes research being conducted at the University of Lincoln!
