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Diabetes services

Images showing parts of the East Kent Hospitals Diabetes services

Our Trust offers a comprehensive service in diabetes and endocrinology. 

Diabetes is a condition which may require input from a number of health professionals including: 

  • Doctors - who assess, make diagnoses, choose treatments and guide care.

  • Diabetes specialist nurses (DSNs) - these provide education, interpret blood glucose readings, adjust insulin dosages, and provide dietary advice. Our diabetes specialist nursing team are adept at teaching blood glucose monitoring and insulin injections, insulin pump services and help support the KAT1E (Kent Adult Type1 Education) programme. 

  • Podiatrists - care for people with foot problems.

  • Retinal photographers - take photographs of the back of patients’ eyes at annual review to check for diabetes related eye complications. 

  • Dieticians - these also provide education regarding diabetes and its treatment, interpret blood glucose readings, adjust insulin dosages, and provide dietary advice. 

  • Secretaries - make appointments, answer patient phone calls, and provide GPs with letters detailing a patient’s appointment. 

The Trust also has an expanding pump therapy service in diabetes and a multidisciplinary diabetic foot team for both inpatients and outpatients.


To ensure proper integration of care, the diabetic consultants are supported by a team of community diabetic specialist nurses employed by Kent Community Health Foundation Trust  They see patients referred from diabetic clinics and also follow up ward discharge patients allowing the smooth transfer of care from the hospital trust to the community.  They also participate in our multidisciplinary clinics especially in the management of diabetes during pregnancy and facilitating transitional care from paediatrics to adult services.

Our Trust offers a comprehensive service with close alliance with the Paula Carr charity especially around retinal screening for diabetic eye complications. Our diabetes and endocrine services include but are not limited to:

  • Retinal screening programme
  • Structured Diabetes Education programmes such as KAT1E (Kent Adult Type 1 Education) for patients with Type 1 diabetes and DERIK (Diabetes Education and Revision in Kent) for patients with Type 2 diabetes.
  • Insulin pump service
  • Lipid disorders clinic
  • Multi-disciplinary team rapid access specialist foot clinic (with vascular and orthopaedic surgeons)
  • Diabetes in Pregnancy Service (with the obstetrician and diabetic midwife)
  • Transitional/ Young adult diabetes service (with the paediatrician).

Patients suitable for whole organ pancreas or islet cell transplants are referred to King's College Hospital for assessment for this procedure.

There are seven consultants in this department which provides services at William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Kent and Canterbury Hospital in Canterbury and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate. A team of junior doctors, dieticians, community podiatrists and diabetic and endocrine specialist nurses support the consultant staff. 

Endocrinology services offered

The endocrine services are supported by thyroid and parathyroid surgeons based at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital and they are part of the thyroid nodule multi-disciplinary team. The Endocrine service is highly developed in the management of all aspects of glandular pathology and is a recognised centre for the sub-speciality of thyroidology.

Patients who require pituitary and adrenal surgery are referred to tertiary centres based in London at Kings College and Guys/St Thomas' hospitals. Patients who have undergone surgery are usually referred back to the acute trust for follow up care.

Endocrinology services offered 

  • Biochemical investigations and dynamic endocrine tests to facilitate diagnoses and therapy 
  • Post operative pituitary and adrenal follow up care.
  • General endocrine clinics
  • Specialised imaging techniques in pancreatic, parathyroid, adrenal and pituitary pathology

Dieticians

The diabetic department is also supported by Kent community health foundation trust employed dieticians. They receive referrals from the diabetic clinics and also provide an inpatient service for diabetic patients that need reinforcement of dietary principles of diabetes. They also provide dietetic clinics in the community.

Consultants

William Harvey Hospital

  • Dr Leila Faghahati 
  • Dr Keith Steer

Kent and Canterbury Hospital


Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital

  • Dr S Joseph 
  • Dr C McGettigan

Diabetic specialist nurses

To ensure proper integration of care, the diabetic consultants are supported by a team of diabetic specialist nurses employed by Eastern and Coastal Kent Primary Care Trust, led by Alison James. They see patients referred from diabetic clinics and also provide occasional sessions in inpatient diabetes, allowing the smooth transfer of care from the hospital trust to the community.

The diabetic specialist nurses also run clinics and help support the DAFNE (Dose Adjustment For Normal Eating) programme and insulin pump services.

Information about our hospitals

Please click the links below for lots of information about visiting our hospitals (including travel and parking):

Specialist nurses

William Harvey Hospital

  • Community specialist nurses: Alison James and Penny Hughes
  • Phone: 01223 616047
  • In-patient specialist nurse: Emma Guy
  • Phone: 01233 616155

Kent and Canterbury Hospital

  • Phone: 07976 072940 ext 722 2750 
  • In-patient specialist nurse: Jo Willey, Katrina Loreti

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital

  • Community specialist nurses: Janet Barber and Jenny Moir
  • Phone: 01843 234470
  • In-patient specialist nurse: Sarah Gregory
  • Phone: 01843 225544 ext 725-6884

Dieticians

  • William Harvey Hospital - phone: 01233 616624

  • Kent and Canterbury Hospital - phone: 01227 864236

  • Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital - phone: 01843 234348.

Podiatry

  • William Harvey Hospital - phone: 01233 633331 ext 723-8322

  • Kent and Canterbury Hospital - phone: 01227 766877 ext 722-5078  (Tuesday and Friday am only)

  • Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital - phone: 01843 22544 ext 725-3593 (Wednesday and Friday am only).