The development of a diabetes screening service for the homeless population in St Helens
Published Date: 07th October 2020
Publication Authors: Pendlebury H, Bujawansa S, Cardwell J
Aim
To screen members of the homeless community in St. Helens for diabetes, and offer advice, support, diabetic eye screening and diabetic foot screening for those with diabetes, following two diabetes-related deaths in this population in 2018.
Method(s)
The Teardrops Hub staff promoted the drop in service to their service users and posters advertising the service were displayed in local hostels. The drop in service ran from 9.30am- 12.30 pm on a session during September 2019. Teardrops have an agreement with a local GP practice that any service users without a registered GP will be registered there. Service users had a point of care HbA1c test performed by a diabetes nurse specialist (DSN), and risk factors for type 2 diabetes were discussed. If the HbA1c was diagnostic for diabetes, the individual would then be offered eye screening and foot screening. GP letters were sent out by the DSN for each person who was screened, informing them of the results.
Result(s)
Sixteen people were screened for diabetes; no individual results were diagnostic for diabetes or impaired glucose regulation (IGR). Risk reduction advice was provided, including red flag symptoms for those with a previous history of pancreatitis (3 people).
Conclusion(s)
Early indication is that the screening programme is a useful concept and was well received by service users and charity staff, who stated that the homeless population are often overlooked by screening programmes. These screening programmes will continue to run on a quarterly basis with plans to audit the results over the next 12 months.
Hayes, NJ; Pendlebury, H; Dyer, N; Bujawansa, S; Cardwell, J. (2020). The development of a diabetes screening service for the homeless population in St Helens: A novel approach in conjunction with teardrops charity for the homeless. Diabetic Medicine. 37 (S1), 161.