Sarah Almond and Rosanne Dunkley with an XPERT group HEALTH and diet are big concerns for the 28,000 Worcestershire people living with diabetes, a number that is likely to grow by 100 every month over the next few years.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is running free diabetes courses at venues across the county, helping anyone with diabetes to understand and manage their condition.

During the last 12 months, the trust’s team has delivered over 1,000 hours of diabetes education.

The sessions are open to all, whether they have an existing condition or new diagnosis.

There are three different programmes available, which are Diabetes XPERT, a six week course for type 2 diabetes being treated with diet or tablets, XPERT Insulin, which is a six week course for type 1 or 2 diabetes being treated with insulin and DAFNE, a six day course for type 1 diabetes being treated with multiple daily injections

Each session has eight-15 places, and courses are taught by diabetes specialist nurses or dietitians. The teaching is practical, and intended to give useful, everyday examples.

Living with diabetes doesn’t simply mean avoiding sugar, it’s more complicated than that, and the trust’s courses help people with diabetes understand how to have a healthy balanced diet.

Anyone with diabetes can ask their GP for a course referral.