Innovative screening project helps identify people at risk of diabetes
A new screening project has been helping to identify and support people at risk of developing a chronic condition.
Over the last year staff from the City Health Local Cluster Collaborative (LCC), have been working closely with Swansea Mosque to help identify people who are either pre-diabetic or have undiagnosed diabetes.
A team from SA1 Medical Centre, in St Thomas, have been using a point of care finger prick test to provide an instant average blood sugar level reading, known as a Hba1c.
Pictured: GP registrar Mootaz Abdelewhed and Dr Wynn Burke.
Following the screening, all information, with the individual’s agreement, is shared with their GP, so the relevant follow-up can take place.
Caroline Ashwood, an advanced nurse practitioner at SA1 Medical Centre, said: “We work on the same floor as the paediatric diabetes team, and they use the testing process for their consultations.
“It was this that gave us the idea and allowed the assertive outreach to take place.
“Swansea Mosque is based within our LCC, and it is one of the largest in the UK with around 10,000 members, so this was a great opportunity to bridge health inequalities.
“The team at Swansea Mosque were equally proactive in working together. They set up the online booking system and supported us on the screening days we have already carried out.
“Three screening days have taken place and approximately 140 individuals have been screened for diabetes, blood pressure, weight and atrial fibrillation.
“The results have been fantastic for the three sessions.”
Around a fifth of the people screened so far have been identified as pre-diabetic, with a further three being diagnosed as diabetic, which they were unaware of.
Dr Wynn Burke along with Dr Eleri Howells, Dr Pam Brown – all GPs at SA1 Medical Centre - and Caroline have worked voluntarily on the project.
Dr Burke said: “Our practice population includes a significant Asian community who are known to be at higher risk of diabetes from a much younger age.
“We do a lot of diabetes screening in high-risk individuals as part of our normal practice. However, the percentage of our practice population with a diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes remains below the expected ratio, therefore we sought to reach out and bridge potential health inequalities.
“This has been a positive experience and greatly welcomed by everyone in the mosque.”
A considerable number of younger people have been screened as part of the project, and it is hoped that educating them early on the lifestyle risks will help them make positive choices in the future.
“We have a real opportunity to educate this generation and make a difference to their future as it is well researched that this population can start to develop diabetes at the age of 25,” Dr Burke added.
“We are seeing patients within our screening days that really need to be seen.”
Staff spent around 12 hours screening patients during the first visit, with a further six hours of screening at each of the second and third visits.
Caroline said: “Not only have we had great teamwork across primary and secondary care, but the executive team from Swansea Mosque have been brilliant to work with.
“We have also engaged some medical students who attend Swansea Mosque, and they have also been instrumental in making the screening days a positive experience.
“We have been supported by colleagues from secondary care and the paediatric diabetes team have been an incredible encouragement and support.
“Ruth Jones and her team from point of care testing in pathology have been instrumental in making this happen, along with cluster support.
“This project shows what we can accomplish with collaborative working.”
Rhys Jenkins, City Health LCC lead, said: “We are very fortunate to have such a motivated team at SA1 Medical Centre working within our cluster.
“The project has been built on the passion and enthusiasm that Caroline has for diabetic care.
“City Health LCC is proud to be able to support the delivery of this project.
“We are driven to reduce health inequalities for our diverse population. We hope to build further on this excellent project.”
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