The women found this tool extremely valuable. They had not realised the impact diabetes could have on pregnancy outcomes.
Practice Nurse
Information Prescriptions are a short (single side of A4), easy to read and clinically accurate resource. They help healthcare professionals and people with diabetes to make decisions together about diabetes treatment and self-management.
We have seen that Information Prescriptions (IPs) are having an impact on the way care is delivered; changing conversations and bringing patients into their appointments. We know that Information Prescriptions are:
- Changing clinical behaviour – Information Prescriptions automatically alert clinicians to patients who have diabetes and are outside the targets for blood pressure, HbA1c or cholesterol. We have case studies that show that this is prompting clinicians to intervene more proactively, identifying patients who have slipped through the net for many years.
- Increasing patient understanding of key concepts – case studies show that many patients say the Information Prescription was the first time anyone explained their condition to them. Although clinicians might have explained it many times, this was the first explanation that hit home.
- Prompting patient action – anecdotally we are hearing of patients significantly improving clinical outcomes. The Information Prescriptions include a unique link to more information on Diabetes UK’s website- we know that over 13,000 patients in 2015 were sufficiently motivated by one to access more information on managing their diabetes.
Diabetes, Contraception and Pregnancy Information Prescription
The latestNational Pregnancy in Diabetes Audit showed that only 1 in 5 women with diabetes are safely prepared for pregnancy. This therefore places 4 in 5 women at higher risk of serious health complications both for mother and baby.
One of the key recommendations of the audit was for better ways of informing women of what they need to know before they fall pregnant – otherwise known as pre-conception information.
We have taken what we have learnt about how the Information Prescriptions work and have applied it to pre-conception information, creating an information sheet that gives women with diabetes the information they need before they even think about having a baby.
Using the tool
We are currently working with primary care IT companies to embed the Information Prescription into their systems. The tool will then pop up for relevant patients, significantly increasing the speed and effectiveness of the intervention as key patient data is automatically populated and saved on the medical record to support continuity of care. Until they’re live in the primary care IT systems, you can download the tool as a PDF to print and use with patients. Alternatively, download the word version to save and use as a template.
Useful information that is hard to find online! I would say that the right level of information is on it- not too scary as you need to know but ensures women know that they need to be prepared.
Person living with diabetes
