Trust: North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust

The North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust based their activities around the theme of this year’s Hypo Awareness week by hosting their own Hypo Olympic Games. The event combined education with friendly competition, engaging staff across departments in a series of creative and challenging activities.

• Paediatric team: The games kicked off with the paediatric team, who sparked spirited debates with their “Hook the right hypo treatments” challenge. This activity tested participants’ knowledge of hypo treatments and set the tone for the competition.

The excitement escalated during the relay race, where mischievous opponents employed “dirty tactics” by using hypo goggles to simulate hypoglycaemia and testing the teams ability to manage hypoglycaemia under pressure.

The race concluded with a buzz wire game, pushing competitors to maintain focus despite depleted “glucose reserves” and the earlier mayhem.

• Social media: The team released a social media video to spread awareness about hypoglycaemia to a wider audience.
• Adult teams: The adult teams at Hinchingbrooke and Peterborough created their own high-stakes competitions. The Jelly Babies relay race required participants to correctly answer hypo-related questions to advance to the next checkpoint.

Adding an extra layer of intrigue, QR codes were hidden around the hospital, revealing a secret code word as competitors decoded answers. Although competitors dreamed of winning a free holiday to the Maldives, budget constraints led to bingo vouchers as the final reward – much to the amusement of participants and spectators.

The event also tested competitors’ memory with challenges to identify the contents of hypo boxes and provide scenarios for using each treatment option.

By involving staff across departments in creative and competitive activities, the trust used the annual campaign to reinforce essential knowledge of hypoglycaemia management and foster teamwork and enthusiasm.