Diabetes is a significant health concern, both in the UK and globally. Management can be complex, often requiring high levels of knowledge and skills in order to provide high-quality and safe care. The provision of good, safe, quality care lies within the foundations of healthcare education, continuing professional development and evidence-based practice, which are inseparable and part of a continuum during the career of any health professional. Sound education provides the launch pad for effective clinical management and positive patient experiences. This position paper reviews and discusses work undertaken by a Working Group under the auspices of Diabetes UK with the remit of considering all health professional educational issues for people delivering care to people with diabetes. This work has scoped the availability of education for those within the healthcare system who may directly or indirectly encounter people with diabetes and reviews alignment to existing competency frameworks within the UK's National Health Service.Diabet. Med. 28, 1501Med. 28, -1507Med. 28, (2011

Changing health and social needs and a rapidly ageing population in the UK (Office for National Statistics 2011) mean providers' responses must be dynamic, flexible, sustainable and focused on the delivery of safe, effective care. Longer lifespans mean that illnesses last longer, with conditions such as diabetes, respiratory disease and arthritis having a greater likelihood of co-morbidities (NHS England 2015a). This has significant consequences for services across all areas of health and social care. General practice is well placed to respond to pressures and provide healthcare to those with long-or short-term conditions, in part due to its registered list of patients. The general practice nurse is pivotal to this, but demographics and years of underinvestment in the workforce are likely to see a deficit in the number of skilled workers needed to support this. Therefore, investment in pre-registration nursing programmes is needed to create a highly skilled, effective, sustainable workforce. This article highlights the work of one community education provider network in establishing nursing student placements in general practice.

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The quality, skills and attitudes of staff working in the healthcare system are central to multidisciplinary learning and working, and to the delivery of the quality of care patients expect. Patients want to know that the staff supporting them have the right knowledge and attitudes to work in partnership, particularly for conditions such as diabetes where 95% of all care is delivered by the person with diabetes themselves. With the current changes in the NHS structures in England, and the potential for greater variation in the types of 'qualified provider', along with the recent scandal at Mid-Staffordshire Hospital, staff need to be shown to be competent and named/accredited or recognized as such. This will help to restore faith in an increasingly devolved delivery structure. The education and validation of competency needs to be consistently delivered and assured to ensure standards are maintained for different roles and disciplines across each UK nation. Diabetes UK recommends that all NHS organizations prioritize healthcare professional education, training and competency through the implementation of a National Diabetes Competency Framework and the phased approach to delivery to address this need.

Introduction: General practice is facing a shortage of nurses and it can be difficult to recruit and retain staff. Nursing students need exposure to primary care nursing roles if they are to consider them in their future career and to develop the skills needed for this environment. A study was designed explore the experiences and perceptions of students on their final placement in general practice. The data were thematically analysed and three themes were derived from the data: myth busting, the teaching and learning environment, and attaining competency.