Current provision and HCP experiences of remote care delivery and diabetes technology training for people with type 1 diabetes in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic
Abstract
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the rapid implementation of remote care delivery in type 1 diabetes. We studied current modes of care delivery, healthcare professional experiences and impact on insulin pump training in type 1 diabetes care in the United Kingdom (UK).
Methods: The UK Diabetes Technology Network designed a 48-question survey aimed at healthcare professionals providing care in type 1 diabetes.
Results: One hundred and forty-three healthcare professionals (48% diabetes physicians, 52% diabetes educators and 88% working in adult services) from approximately 75 UK centres (52% university hospitals, 46% general and community hospitals), responded to the survey. Telephone consultations were the main modality of care delivery. There was a higher reported time taken for video consultations versus telephone (p < 0.001). Common barriers to remote consultations were patient familiarity with technology (72%) and access to patient device data (67%). We assessed the impact on insulin pump training. A reduction in total new pump starts (73%) and renewals (61%) was highlighted. Common barriers included patient digital literacy (61%), limited healthcare professional experience (46%) and time required per patient (44%). When grouped according to size of insulin pump service, pump starts and renewals in larger services were less impacted by the pandemic compared to smaller services.
Conclusion: This survey highlights UK healthcare professional experiences of remote care delivery. While supportive of virtual care models, a number of factors highlighted, especially patient digital literacy, need to be addressed to improve virtual care delivery and device training.
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Date
2021-12-04
Type
Article
Subject
CSII, Biotechnology, Continuous blood glucose monitoring, Healthcare delivery
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Citation
Forde, H., Choudhary, P., Lumb, A., Wilmot, E., & Hussain, S. (2022). Current provision and HCP experiences of remote care delivery and diabetes technology training for people with type 1 diabetes in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic. Diabetic medicine : a journal of the British Diabetic Association, 39(4), e14755. https://doi.org/10.1111/dme.14755