The West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust’s campaign had three aims they focused on throughout the week:
To launch Hypo Awareness Week all the team wore their hypo t-shirts, used a hypo simulation dummy to train on and also revised their best practice by simulating both mild and severe hypoglycaemic incidences.
All hypo boxes across clinical areas in the hospital were audited, ensuring they were well-stocked and that staff knew their whereabouts.
Over three days they manned a stand in the staff canteen, decorated with Hypo Awareness Week merchandise. It was stacked with literature, demo glucagon kits, sugary hypo treats and advice. They also created handy hypo algorithm takeaway cards for clinicians. A quiz was also on offer for staff to test their knowledge.
The team said: “It was a pleasure to meet so many different staff and to raise awareness.”
In the diabetes clinic patient waiting room, a hypo slideshow played out hypo journals were handed out, encouraging patients to log any hypos they experience and to use this to manage them more effectively.
A Hypo Awareness Week article in the staff newsletter detailed symptoms and treatments, along with a round-up of the week’s activities. They also used Twitter throughout the week to inform staff, patients and the public of events.