16 February 2016
It is well known that healthcare practitioners with good diabetes skills are able to better deliver quality diabetes care with improved patient safety, better outcomes as well as a reduced risk of clinical incidents and the need for inpatient treatment.
The Cambridge Diabetes Education Programme (CDEP) is an online tool that supports staff to:
- demonstrate their diabetes competencies relevant to their role
- collect evidence of ongoing development
- collect peer and patient feedback on their diabetes related practice.
CDEP can be done in bite-sized chunks, at any time, in any place with internet access. It therefore reduces the impact of continuous professional development on patient facing activity.
CDEP offers a range of topics, some fundamental to all staff working with people with diabetes, e.g. hypoglycaemia, hyperglycaemia, oral and injectable therapies. It also offers a range of specialist topics, e.g. pre-conception care and managing diabetes in hospital. Topics currently under development are foot care and managing diabetes in a residential or care home.
Following the successful completion of each topic, you can obtain a certificate which will be valid for 2 years. To date, over 3000 topic-specific certificates have been issued. On average, across all the CDEP topics offered, 80 per cent of people rate their competency, confidence and familiarity with diabetes guidelines relevant to the completed topic as improved or significantly improved.
CDEP is endorsed by Diabetes UK, the British Dietetic Association (BDA) and Cambridge University Health Partnership. They are in the process of seeking endorsement from other relevant stakeholders.
CDEP is an NHS-based, non-profit entity and as such is responsible for generating its own funding.
CDEP is currently offering Diabetes UK members aof a two year membership for only £10 (usual price £25). Use the registration key codewhen creating a new account to activate the code. This offer is valid until 29February 2016.
