Leeds to test digital tools for young diabetes patients

Leeds has been selected as the UK site for a European research pilot which aims to improve the treatment of diabetes in young people through digital tools.   

IMPACT-MED is a five-year initiative supported by the EU’s Innovative Health Initiative Joint Undertaking (IHI JU) to bring together European experts across healthcare, research, industry, and patient organisations to develop innovative approaches to care for a range of cardiometabolic conditions.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is the only NHS Trust involved in the initiative and will work with Minimed-Diabeter and DigiBete to explore the role that digital tools play in supporting self-management of diabetes.

Dr Fiona Campbell, clinical lead, Children and Young People’s Diabetes Team at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We’re very excited to be involved in this major European initiative together with our partners Minimed Diabeter and DigiBete.

“This will allow the diabetes team at Leeds Children’s Hospital to explore how remote monitoring and personalised digital education can improve treatment, self-management and quality of care among children, adolescents and young adults living with type 1 diabetes.

“As one of the UK’s largest specialist children’s hospitals, we have one of the most comprehensive paediatric diabetes services in the country.

“This new initiative is a significant step forward in collaborating to bring clinical expertise, digital infrastructure, and patient-centred education together to help improve treatment and care for our young patients and also contribute to the adoption of technologies across Europe.”

Leeds Children’s Hospital’s specialist paediatric diabetes team cares for more than 500 children and young people with diabetes across Yorkshire.

Patients under the care of the Children and Young People’s Diabetes Team at Leeds Children’s Hospital, along with patients in the Trust’s Young Adults Diabetes Service, will be offered the opportunity to test new digital tools as part of their ongoing care and contribute to the European study.

The project will assess how digital platforms including Diabeter’s CloudCare and DigiBete can be deployed across different healthcare settings alongside digital education and patient engagement tools.

Maarten Akkerman, chairman of the board at Diabeter, said:  “With Leeds Teaching Hospitals and Digibete’s pioneering efforts in digital training and education combined with Diabeter’s remote monitoring driven population management innovation, we are making the next step towards a hybrid care setting while not losing the individual patient needs out of sight and being able to address those even better.”

IMPACT-MED is led by Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma (Italy) and Medtronic Ibérica (Spain), together with 26 partners across 13 countries.