Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust has been chosen as a pilot site to help develop care for diabetes patients across the country.

The Trust is only one of 15 in the country to benefit from being part of a pilot programme looking into Diabetes Transition and Young Adult Care that is being delivered by NHS England with the aim of improving care for diabetes patients.

The pilot will be led jointly by Professor May Ng OBE, Consultant Paediatric Endocrinologist and Dr Simon Saunders, a Consultant Endocrinologist, and will see improvements in continuity of care with collaborative working between paediatric and adult services to support the needs of young people.

Prof Ng said: “Funding made available to the pilot sites will support teams with better resources, skill-mix and training to deliver high-quality seamless transition care for young people.

“Outcomes from these pilots will identify key themes to inform future national policy on a seamless diabetes transition service.

“We are delighted to have been chosen to take part and to help shape developments that will improve patient care in the future.’’

The paediatric diabetes team at Southport and Ormskirk has won many national awards in recent years such as the Northwest Excellence in Healthcare NHS Parliamentary Awards 2020, the Diabetes UK Mary Mackinnon Award 2018 and the Diabetes Quality in Care 2015.