Healthcare teams from all over the UK came together at the Leicester Diabetes Centre (LDC) to celebrate the DESMOND Awards in October 2023. Set up twenty years ago in 2003, DESMOND (Diabetes Education and Self-Management for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed) is a national education programme dedicated to providing support and self-management tools for people with, or being at risk of, Type 2 diabetes and other long-term conditions.
Professor Melanie Davies, Co-Director of the LDC, said: “It is hard to believe it has been 20 years since DESMOND first launched. We are proud of what we have been able to achieve in this time, with around 750,000 people with Type 2 diabetes having attended a group session and 40,000 digital users from across the 105 healthcare organisations that champion our programme.”
The award categories and winners were:
- The Deirdre McGowan Educator of the Year Award: Christopher Henry, Diabetes Assistant at South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland
- Team of the Year Award: South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland
- Innovation Award: Government of Jersey: Health and Community Services
- Impact Award: Northamptonshire Diabetes Multi-Disciplinary Team, and Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
- Excellence Award: North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust
