Making the NHS work better for you
The NHS has nearly 100,000 staff. It is the biggest employer in Wales. The NHS spends nearly £5bn each year (£500m on diabetes). It is the biggest department in the Welsh Assembly Government.
More than 160,000 people with diabetes in Wales rely on its support and care every year. Diabetes UK Cymru wants to make sure that you are getting the best possible care. We regularly meet with NHS representatives across Wales to ensure the services you receive are the best they can be and we also help many people with diabetes meet with NHS staff to raise issues that are important to them.
The NHS in your local area
If you or a family member have diabetes, you are likely to have a number of different contact points with the NHS over the year. Depending on the support you require, you may meet with your GP, a practice nurse or diabetes specialist nurse, a podiatrist or the consultant and health professional team in your local hospital.
Diabetes patients often meet many different doctors and nurses and it is common to feel ‘lost in the system’. We hope the following information provides a simple overview of the most important parts of the NHS and if you have concerns or issues you would like to raise, the easiest way to do this to the most appropriate NHS representatives in your community.
Department for Health & Social Services: Minister: Lesley Griffiths
The Welsh Assembly Government and the Minister are responsible for ensuring Health Boards across Wales deliver high quality care and support for people with diabetes across Wales. The Department for Health and Social Services produced the National Service Framework for Diabetes which maps out exactly what each Health Board should deliver.
Health Boards
Across Wales there are seven Health Boards. Each Health Board must make sure that the care it provides to people with diabetes meets the standards that are explained in the National Service Framework. They will report to the Department for Health & Social Services on their progress.
Diabetes Planning and Delivery Groups (DPDGs)
The NHS knows that for people with diabetes to receive the best care, it is important to hear patients views and provide regular opportunities for health professionals and people with diabetes to meet, reflect on experiences and improve on areas that people with diabetes raise as concerns.
Each Health Board has a Diabetes Planning and Delivery Group which meets every three months at a local hospital or community venue. Doctors, nurses and consultants with a specialism in diabetes meet with people with diabetes from the local community. Diabetes UK Cymru representatives also attend these meetings to support the people with diabetes present
A patient representative guide has been produced by the Welsh Assembly Government to help people with diabetes who attend Diabetes Planning and Delivery Groups.
If you would like to find out more about attending a meeting local to you to raise some issues you feel are important, please contact us.
Patient Reference Groups (PRGs)
To support the Diabetes Planning and Delivery Groups, there are diabetes Patient Reference Groups in each Health Board. People with diabetes are free to attend these meetings and the group’s occasionally invite doctors and nurses to attend to provide information and respond to questions the group has.
All groups are slightly different but many people with diabetes enjoy meeting to discuss living with diabetes. They share experiences and stories of their health care, both good and bad. Two or three members of a PRG will attend the local Diabetes Planning and Delivery Group to speak on behalf of the group and effectively represent the local diabetes community.
If you would like to find out more about your local diabetes Patient Reference Group, please contact us.