Our achievements

Posted on 26 Sep 2024

Congratulations to Dr Gemma Paszek, Lead Clinical Psychologist in our Physical Health Psychology Service, who is part of the Young Adult Diabetes Service, which won Multidisciplinary Team of the Year at the Sherwood Forest Hospitals Excellence Awards 2024 recently. 

The team, funded through an NHS England Pilot Scheme, have developed innovative care provision for young adults 18-25 years with diabetes. The team have adopted a fully integrated approach, placing the psychologist and dietician as core members of the team, providing joint clinic appointments with a consultant endocrinologist and diabetes specialist nurse.  Young adults typically have poorer blood sugar control than children and older adults, leading to long lasting negative health impacts.  The team are an excellent example of the benefits of the true integration of physical health and mental health provision and they have seen some remarkable benefits for the young adults they are working with, including dramatic reductions in hospital admissions and increased stability in blood sugars.

As the Lead Clinical Psychologist, Dr Gemma Paszek has designed and developed the psychology service within the Young Adult Diabetes Service at Sherwood Forest Hospitals. The service is an NHS England funded pilot, and we are one of the only services to have psychology at the heart of the service. 

Proudly, mental health is given the same weighting as physical health, and psychology is embedded and integrated within the service model. The prevalence of anxiety and depression are more than double in people with type 1 diabetes, and eating disorders are about three times more prevalent than in people without diabetes. 

Adolescence is a difficult time, and transition from paediatric to adult diabetes services is notoriously when we witness disengagement from services and increased emergency hospital admissions. As a team we are providing a tailored service meeting the needs of young adults, a service that is proactive and responsive and treating the whole person. Psychological support is embedded from the outset, with conversations about emotional wellbeing and building psychological resilience being part of all medical consultations. 

The Clinical Psychologist is present in all MDT clinics, alongside the Diabetes Specialist Nurse, Lead Diabetes Dietitian and Consultant. All patients complete psychological screening measures and those identified with an emotional need are offered and provided therapy; one-to-one, group or joint sessions dependent on psychological formulation. Other roles of the Clinical Psychologist include delivering training and education workshops, promoting trauma informed care (TIC) and psychological informed practice through consultation and supervision of colleagues, together with conducting research and ongoing service development. 

It’s a service that is seeing amazing results with reduction in HbA1c figures. HbA1c is your average blood glucose (sugar) levels for the last two to three months. So many of our young adults are struggling with diabetes management and therefore have high blood sugar levels which is damaging long term for health and causes many health complications. We strive as a team to help young adults to manage their blood glucose levels within a healthier range that keeps them well and safe.

The service has also seen increased engagement, significant reduction in emergency hospital admissions and improved emotional wellbeing, with patients saying they are learning to live well alongside Type 1 Diabetes.

Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust created a really intersting video on the service, which hears from patients as well as staff involved, which you can view below.