Innovation

The need for diabetes innovation is pressing; there are currently nearly three million people with diabetes in the UK and there are up to another 850,000 people with diabetes who have the condition and don’t know it. One person is diagnosed with diabetes every five minutes.

By 2025 it is estimated that over four million people will have diabetes, 57 per cent of which will be linked to obesity, the rest due to the aging population. Innovation in diabetes doesn’t require great technological breakthroughs—it simply requires a willingness to collaborate and to question the status quo.

Case studies in this section demonstrated the following:

• Scope and ambition of project
• Evidence of collaboration and commitment
• High degree of engagement from key stakeholders
• Impact on patients
• Impact on staff and organisation
• Evidence of significant gains in efficiency and productivity to the benefit of patients
• Evidence of outcomes far greater than total cost and time invested
• Transferability of idea to other organisations
• Sustainability.