• D Flanagan, J Ellis, A Baggott, K Grimsehl, and P English.
• Department of Endocrinology, Plymouth Diabetes Service, Derriford Hospital, Plymouth. Daniel.flanagan@phnt.swest.nhs.uk
• Diabet. Med. 2010 Nov 1;27(11):1289-94.

AimsAt any given time, people with diabetes occupy approximately 10-20% of acute hospital beds. In addition, diabetes is associated with a greater length of stay. Patients undergoing elective procedures occupy approximately 50% of hospital beds. The aim of this 12-month project was to improve the quality of diabetes care for elective inpatients. The primary outcome measure was length of stay.MethodsA team was established to improve the quality of care and reduce the length of stay of all patients admitted electively with diabetes. Specific areas of focus were surgical pre-assessment, planning the admission, post-operative care and planning a safe discharge. A retrospective audit of all elective patients with a coded diagnosis of diabetes admitted between June 2008 and June 2009 was performed.ResultsComparing the year of the project with the preceding year day-case rates for patients with diabetes increased by 34.8% for diabetes vs. 13.7% for the total hospital population (P for difference=0.048). There was a significant fall in diabetes length of stay of 0.34 days comparing 2008 and 2009 (P=0.040). Over the same period, we have shown a smaller reduction in length of stay for all other admissions of 0.08 days (p=0.039).ConclusionA team specifically employed to focus on elective inpatient diabetes care have a significant impact on length of stay of this patient group with potential cost savings.© 2010 The Authors. Diabetic Medicine © 2010 Diabetes UK.

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