Scott Cawley, Neera Agawal and Justin Warner
Three staff members from Cardiff and Vale University Health Board have been appointed as Diabetes UK Clinical Champions, joining a small but elite team across the UK.
The Clinical Champions programme is designed to support health care professionals in championing the cause of patients with diabetes with the intention of improving quality of life and clinical outcomes.
Dr Justin Warner, consultant in Paediatric Endocrinology, Scott Cawley, Podiatry professional clinical lead and Neera Agarwal, consultant Diabetes Physician have been appointed from Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, joining only 20 other individuals across the UK.
Adam Cairns, Chief Executive of Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said: “This project is in keeping with the Health Board’s key priorities. Diabetes is increasing throughout Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, as it is in the rest of the UK. With help and guidance from the diabetes clinical champions, we can ensure our services are as effective as possible, helping to reduce complications, resulting in better outcomes for those with the condition and reduced costs for NHS Wales.”
Dr Justin Warner said: “My aim as a clinical champion is to strive to improve the quality of care for children and young people with diabetes, not only in my own locality, but also across Wales, with particular emphasis on the management of diabetes during the school day. Children and young people spend one third of their waking day at school and diabetes needs to be just as carefully supported during this time as it does at home”.
Scott Cawley said: “I’m delighted to be appointed as Clinical Champion and the opportunity it will give to promote and raise awareness of diabetic foot complications. Prevention of foot disease has to start with adequate foot checks being undertaking to identify those at greatest risk to complications across all healthcare settings. My aim is to reduce the variation that currently exists in foot screening across these settings, ensuring a consistent sustainable model that can be shared across Wales.”
Part of the champions’ job will be to look for areas for improvement and work together with stakeholders to improve patient experience and clinical outcomes of people with diabetes.
Dai Williams, Director of Diabetes UK Cymru said: “We are thrilled to be working with some of Wales’ leading diabetes clinicians. Their support, commitment and dedication will help us to improve care and services for people living with diabetes across Wales.”
