The Salford IGT Care Call is leading the way in diabetes prevention

Pioneering work from GM CLAHRC and the Salford Diabetes team is beginning to have an impact on the way the NHS provides care to prevent type 2 diabetes.

The Impaired Glucose Tolerance (IGT) Care Call service, developed by GM CLAHRC and the Salford Diabetes team, has been used as an example of ‘guidance in practice’ in the new NICE guidelines about preventing type 2 diabetes.

The IGT Care Call project was a six month telephone based lifestyle intervention programme for people diagnosed with IGT with the aim of preventing them from developing type 2 diabetes. The programme provided motivation, support and evidence based education via a series of electronic scripts developed and maintained by the specialist diabetes team. Supporting and working individually with participants; health advisor tailored advice and resources to assist the individual in achieving their agreed lifestyle goal. This  included provision of information about their local NHS and community services.

Joanne Thomas, Lead Programme Manager for Implementation of GM CLAHRC said: “NICE’s use of the IGT Care-Call project  as an example of how their guidelines can be implemented is a great achievement for the project team. It demonstrates how GM CLAHRC has successfully facilitated the translation of evidence based guidelines into practice.”

Recently the IGT Care Call service was recognised with a ‘Highly Commended’ status in the Health Service Journal (HSJ) Care Integration Awards in the diabetes category. The project also won the Quality in Care Diabetes award for best type 2 diabetes preventative initiative and played a leading role at the international telehealth and telecare conference in London.

Since the success of the initial project, the service is now being offered to all GPs in Salford and been re-named  ‘IGR Care Call’ to reflect that it is available to people diagnosed with impaired fasting glucose (IFG) in addition to those with IGT.

Information about the Care Call service is available on the NICE website under ‘see this guidance in practice’ section. Health professionals  involved in identifying people at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes and preventing or delaying its onset can see how the Care Call project was implemented and the successful results it achieved with people in Salford.

Date Published: 23/07/2012