"We are all acutely aware that the current climate is a challenging one for the diabetes sector and we also know that this change in practice has not been accompanied by the appropriate investment in the diabetes workforce, especially in the up-skilling of Health Care Professionals (HCPs) to deliver intensive management and evaluated programmes of education. This continuing situation has led to self-directed learning by HCPs and resulted in a lack of standardisation in the knowledge, appropriate skill sets and competency levels of the workforce. The new workforce going forward needs to be responsive to a rapidly changing clinical picture for children and young people with diabetes."

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"The added value of the EU CDEC is that it will be designed to respond to the evolutionary changes that we are seeing in children and young people with diabetes. Furthermore, its fundamental aim is to produce a competent workforce that has the knowledge, skill sets and competency levels to deliver a holistic, family-focused approach to all aspects of education, and who can lead the way in changing the approach to diabetes care. The majority of courses that are delivered at present are clinically focused and yet all the evidence indicates that education has to be at the core of service delivery, which demands that HCPs need to have education competencies. The creation of the EU CDEC also aims to meet the continuing professional development needs of HCPs working in children’s diabetes to ensure they can function as independent advanced educators."

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Elizabeth Webster - Leeds Beckett Unversity

Project Lead