Diabetes National SBRI – Inpatients Diabetes
Background Summary
Nationally, it has been recognised that the care for diabetes patients in hospital is currently sub-optimal, with the correct management of hypoglycaemia only happening correctly in 40-50% of cases – against a situation where insulin treatment is consistently in the top 3 risk medications for error and harm. Consequently these patients also have an increased risk of infection and longer average lengths of stay (1-3 days).
To address this inpatient care challenge, NHS Lothian on behalf of Health Innovation South East Scotland will run one of three national Diabetes challenges that have been allocated funds of £100,000 each. The other two challenges being run by NHS Highland on Diabetic Foot Ulcers and NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde on the risk of developing osteoporosis and fracture for people with diabetes.
Challenge Objectives
To develop a real-time decision support tool and alert mechanism that can improve triage, prevent medication errors, identify emergencies, and streamline the diabetes care pathway.
Phase 2 starts March 2023
We are happy to announce that phase 2 of our Inpatients Diabetes SBRI led by Dr Stuart Ritchie started on 1st March 2023 and is expected to end on 1st December 2023. The companies selected for phase 2 are CamDiab and MyWayDigitalHealth. The CamDiab project aims to implement a CE marked closed-loop system to manage diabetes on general wards at a hospital. The MyWayDigitalHealth (MWDH) aims to develop a computer-based (digital) tool to help achieve better outcomes in people with diabetes, particularly focusing on those admitted to hospital.
Phase 2 Project Summaries
CamDiab
The CamDiab project aims to implement a CE marked closed-loop system to manage diabetes on general wards at a hospital. CamDiab uses a closed-loop system that automatically delivers insulin via an insulin pump according to ‘realtime’ sensor glucose levels. Automation of insulin delivery removes the need for frequent insulin dose adjustments by healthcare professionals, and continuous glucose monitoring allows for alerts to identify hypoglycaemia and significant hyperglycaemia. The project team will train staff to use the closed-loop system and will evaluate outcomes including the efficacy (glucose control), safety, usage, and cost of the system in a real-world setting. This will provide essential evidence to support widespread adoption of this technology across hospitals in Scotland to improve clinical outcomes for inpatients with diabetes.
MyWayDigitalHealth
MyWayDigitalHealth (MWDH) aims to develop a computer-based (digital) tool to help achieve better outcomes in people with diabetes, particularly focusing on those admitted to hospital. This digital tool will help clinicians more easily identify individuals at risk of poor outcomes during an inpatient stay; this will include supporting triage of patients coming into hospital, flagging those requiring specialist review, prompting staff to assess and protect feet and advise around glucose targets and treatment changes such as insulin prescription. Also, this digital tool will make use of information (data) from medical records and from connected hospital glucose meters. The project will look for patterns in historical data to develop algorithms that can predict who is most likely to come to harm and will use clinical consensus linking to agreed protocols and guidelines to deliver advice and support to clinicians throughout the hospital at the point of need.
Clinical Lead for the Challenge
The Inpatient Diabetes Challenge is led by Endocrinologist Dr Stuart Ritchie who is based at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh.
Delivery Partners
Health Innovation South East Scotland (HISES), NHS Lothian, and The University of Edinburgh, The DataLoch.
Challenge solvers
Outputs expected
- To improve the clinical care of patients with a pre-existing diagnosis of diabetes when admitted to hospital.
- Improve clinical outcomes for diabetic patients.
Strategic Priority Area
- To enhance the opportunities for healthy living and well-being.
- To deliver preventative and proactive care.
SBRI Key Dates
- Competition opens: 10 August 2020
- Applicant briefing event: 17 August 2020
- Competition closes: 30 September 2020
- Phase 1 start date: 1 April 2021
- Phase 2 start date: 1 March 2023
- Phase 2 end date: 1 December 2023
Funding Partner
This is a Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) competition funded by the Chief Scientists Office (CSO) in Scottish Government and hosted by Health Innovation South East Scotland.