Evaluating the launch of live electronic access to point-of-care blood glucose monitoring to reduce the prevalence of inpatient hypoglycaemia at Heartlands, Good Hope and Solihull hospitals

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Hypoglycaemia is a serious complication of diabetes, increasing risk of morbidity, mortality and length of stay. Live point-of-care (POCT) blood glucose monitoring provides a graphical–visual comparison of glucose control. Successive national diabetes inpatient audits have shown a significant level of mild and moderate hypoglycaemia for inpatients with diabetes in our hospitals, on par with other hospital trusts nationally. Many of these hospital trusts already have live point-of-care blood glucose connectivity, and we were keen to ensure that our switch was linked to a sustained reduction in patient harm from hypoglycaemia. Therefore, we planned to link the launch to a full communication …