Every year over 300,000 elective operations take place on people with diabetes. Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT) has worked together with a small group of clinicians, made up of doctors, anaesthetists and a psychologist, to produce a leaflet for people with diabetes who are awaiting surgery. As you are no doubt aware the wait times for elective operations have increased considerably for many people due to the backlog caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The aim of the digital leaflet is to empower people to keep well with their diabetes whilst they wait for their operation. It offers advice and signposting to reputable online information sources that patients may find helpful, including information on the importance of maintaining healthy glucose levels prior to surgery, keeping feet healthy, reducing stress levels and engaging in healthy activity levels. The digital leaflet is designed to be given to patients either by primary care teams when the patient is being referred for potential surgery, or by secondary care teams when patients are listed for surgery.
The authors are pleased to make this available to the members of ABCD who may wish to share it with people with diabetes awaiting surgery and colleagues. We are grateful to ABCD for hosting the document on their web site.
