Impact of COVID-19 on Diabetes Health Care and Service Provision in Australian Diabetes Centers.

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has mandated substantive changes in health care provision to minimize the risk of transmission within health care facilities. Introduction of physical distancing, a heightened focus on hand hygiene and workplace cleanliness, and widespread moves to telehealth provision have been observed (1,2). However, little is known about the impact of the pandemic on provision of diabetes care in countries like Australia with universal health care coverage. Because of mandated changes in clinical environments, we were unable to administer the scheduled Australian National Diabetes Audit (ANDA), a national annual benchmarking audit of diabetes center performance. In lieu of ANDA, we developed and administered the ANDA–COVID-19 service survey in consultation with the National Association of Diabetes Centres. The survey examined seven areas of service delivery: preparedness and ability to adapt to a crisis such as COVID-19; changes made to the health service space; challenges in delivery; changes in access to services from other health professionals and shortages of medications; and the impact on staffing as a result of COVID-19, workload in key clinical areas, and different modes of health care delivery. A health professional from each participating site was invited to complete the survey. Monash Health Human and Research Ethics Committee approved the study as an amendment to ANDA (LNR/17/MonH/123, amendment number AM/35106/MonH-2020-212691). …