Serving the diabetes market in one event

Launched last year, Diabetes Professional Care showcases innovation in the prevention, treatment and management of diabetes. Health Business details the highlights of the 2015 event.

Diabetes Professional Care is the UK’s only free to attend diabetes conference and exhibition for HCPs, CCGs, CSUs and research professionals. The event is unique in its make-up, having been designed for healthcare professionals, by healthcare professionals. 

Launched last year, the inaugural CPD accredited event attracted over 1,579 attendees ranging from diabetes specialist consultants and decision makers in hospital trusts, to commissioning board managers and pharmacists. Over 40 exhibitors showcased the latest innovations and products including MSD, Bayer HealthCare, Abbott Diabetes Care, Cardiff University, Public Health England, JDRF and iHealth.

Seven conference streams ran throughout the two-day event featuring keynotes from the likes of Professor Chris Ham, CEO of the Kings Fund; Dr Jim O’Brien, the national programme director for Diabetes Prevention, Public Health England; Tim Kelsey, national director for patients and information at NHS England and Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, medical director at NHS England. 

Highlights included insights into developing an implantable artificial pancreas for the treatment of insulin dependent diabetes from De Montfort University’s Prof. Joan Taylor, and the role of social media in diabetic care with Dr Partha Kar, Clinical Director of Diabetes at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust and Laura Cleverley, aka @ninjabetic1. Other sessions addressed the issue of commissioning care, patient information, self-care and interventions to tackle the diabetes epidemic in the UK. 

Debates and workshops
Conference streams were specially designed to provide sessions for everyone – prevention, commissioning, primary and secondary care, co-morbidities, research, diagnostics/new technologies and paediatrics.

An array of workshops ran alongside the CPD accredited conference presenting real-life case studies and practical sessions. Among them was Adam Hoare, managing director at V-Connect, whose workshop focused on ‘The Clinic at Home: Helping Patents to Look After Themselves’.

Hoare said: “This technology creates a two-way communication video channel between patients and their care providers using their own televisions, effectively creating remote clinics in homes. It means patients can do their own analysis, with coaching from the hospital, collapsing pathways, reducing anxiety for the patient and minimising traffic in terms of letters and attendance at hospitals. It transforms the way they feel supported, the education they receive and their long term care.”

On day two of the event, there was plenty of show floor ‘theatre’ in the form of a live debate where a panel of experts from Xperio Health, De Montfort University Leicester, X-PERT Health and Public Health England discussed the topic ‘Which single intervention will be most effective at tackling the diabetes epidemic in the UK?’

Chairing the debate was Hon Stephen Dorrell, Former Secretary of State for Health and Chair of House of Commons Health Select Committee, with the conclusion being drawn by Roy Lilley, Health Analyst, who said: “We need to think about diabetes care like the self-checkouts we get at supermarkets. Ten years ago when it was introduced, we were taking the onus off the workers and organisation, putting it onto us, the customer.

“This is what we should be encouraging within the health sector. We need to help diabetes sufferers help themselves. If there is a sufferer that is able to manage their own care, we need to provide the opportunity to enable this to happen, and show them how best to do it. There is no silver bullet at the moment, so we need to pull together in order to handle this epidemic.”

Jens Birkenheim, Founder of DiabetesCareFinder, an online platform for people with diabetes to find and review local care and support services, remarked: “The live debate was both engaging and entertaining to be part of and, of course, I’m delighted that the patient’s perspective on the vital role of education won the audience vote. The conference as a whole was a huge success and provided a valuable platform in bringing together diabetes professionals, innovators and patients. I look forward to next year’s event.”

Digital health technology
Diabetes Professional Care 2015 also joined forces with Digital Health Kitchen, led by Professor Nicholas S Peters of London’s Imperial College, where six start-up companies showcased their latest digital health technologies to enable greater self-care. Innovators included Smartsensor Telemed, Slow Control and Proteus Digital Health; all demonstrating the benefits emerging technologies can have on health and wellness.

Feedback from visitors and exhibitors was extremely positive. Rajiv Dhir, senior prescribing advisor at Wandsworth Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “I came away from the conference reflecting on areas of diabetes care I may not have considered in my professional role but am now already incorporating – this will no doubt improve my care for patients.” 
Floris Newby-Rush, senior staff nurse at St Andrew’s Hospital, added: “Learning first‑hand about the latest developments in the prevention of diabetes is invaluable, it’s good to see a show like this in London.” 

Punya Liyanage, health economy liaison manager at Janssen, enthused: “It’s fantastic to have a free-to-attend show with such a great line-up of speakers providing invaluable content. The atmosphere is great, to have this amount of buzz on the first day is really impressive, especially for a launch show.”

Exhibitor Caroline McGowan from Flexitol commented: “The events team have worked especially hard to help us, as an exhibitor, to get the maximum from attending their event and we’ve seen high quality, genuinely interested delegates from a wide cross-section of diabetic services. Fantastic inaugural event, it’s hard to believe it’s the first!”

Also commenting on the success of the show was exhibitor Michael Spiers, director at Clinical Professionals: “We have found Diabetes Professional Care 2015 to be a refreshing change from other exhibitions and conferences. The show has attracted a fantastic quality of visitor. Everyone who has come to our stand has been interested and clued up on what they want and how we can help. We have also used the show to meet some of our clients in the pharmaceutical and device sectors, to discuss our staffing solutions and in particular, our Graduate Academy, which helps get the very best university talent into these markets. What a great show!”

So, what’s in store for DPC2016?
The event team is committed to listening to and working closely with companies and individuals supporting HCPs who carry out important work on the frontline of diabetes care. The 2015 visitor survey revealed that 100 per cent of responders said they would attend in 2016 – indicating a genuine thirst amongst visitors to interact with and speak to companies and organisations who provide products and services in the diabetes arena at Diabetes Professional Care 2016.

Now doubled in size, this year’s event brings together more than 100 exhibitors pioneering new services and innovations for diabetes. Some 4,000 visitors are expected at Diabetes Professional Care 2016 and any company with a focus on diabetes or related comorbidities is encouraged to get in contact soon with the organisers soon. The 2015 event revealed it’s an audience with a big budget; 39 per cent of attendees had an annual purchasing budget of more than £1m.

Maggie Meer, founder of Diabetes Professional Care, explained: “We are thrilled with the success of the launch and are now focused on delivering another impressive event in a bigger and more accessible venue. The overwhelming consensus was that the 2015 show worked brilliantly and has plugged a major hole in the UK diabetes market - addressing the needs of professionals dealing with diabetes type 1 or 2.

“We will continue to provide HCPs in the diabetes arena with high quality education in new and innovative treatments, products and services.
The event will remain completely free to attend for HCPs ensuring that all those with a professional interest in diabetes have an opportunity to improve the treatment and information that they provide to their patients.”

Look out for...
The Conference – a two-day, innovative and relevant conference programme delivered by those working at all levels of diabetes care - from HCPs working at the front line, to policy and decision makers (CCG & CSU).

Industry Led Workshops – building on Diabetes Professional Care 2015, workshops will be practical, interactive and relevant, including: ‘How to’ sessions, useful advice, real life lessons, and opportunities for mindshare.

The Digital Health Kitchen – an exciting feature area returning in 2016 – a dedicated area for a handful of start-up companies working at the knife-edge of innovation and technology in healthcare. An opportunity for visitors, once again, to look at what’s brand new and what’s coming….

The Diabetes Village – a special feature located at the heart of the dedicated networking and lounge area is exclusively for HCP’s working in primary and secondary care. The Diabetes Village provides the opportunity to share experiences and best practice over free refreshments.

VIP & Commissioning Zone – in response to feedback from the large number of visiting commissioners and high-level public health decision and policy makers, 2016 will host a brand new meeting and networking area, specially dedicated for this group to interact with industry, in a focused and interactive environment.

Innovation and e-health Zone – the show’s Innovation and e-health Zone will help visitors to learn about the latest innovative developments in e-health, life sciences and technology, with experts in this field on hand to discuss issues and explain new developments. Come and see innovation in action!

We do things a little differently and we hope that you will be able to join us on the 16-17 November to find out! Diabetes Professional Care 2016 will be bigger and better and we look forward to welcoming you to Diabetes Professional Care 2016.

Further Information
www.diabetesprofessionalcare.com