Glasgow 2016 - some personal highlights

There's more serious stuff to come from #DPC16 - a lot more.  But the conferences (#YDEF16 included) did have a personal side to them as well, and I wanted to get things down on paper before I forget them.

There's a good chance I'll return to this as and when another memory fights its way through the current brain fog, but these are the things that have stood out for me on a personal level over the last four days:

• Meeting members of the #doc.  It's always top of the list when you get to meet people you spend so much time talking to.  Finally getting to meet (in no particular order) Laura, Kelly, Kris, Sandie, Dani, Mike, Ellie, Bob, Helen, Partha, Pratik, Emma, Becky, Ali, Neil, Pete, Sophie, Lis, Jon, Jane, Amy, Hannah, Jane-Claire and anyone else who I've definitely forgotten (sorry - can barely remember my own name right now).  Memories were made - I thank you.

• Getting to speak at both conferences.  I think Kelly and I delivered a solid couple of workshops at #YDEF16 to say we'd only met for the first time the night before (and only had one practice run).  Standing up in the Arena on the first day of the conference and being given a platform to give my experiences on education at #DPC16 was a real highlight and I'm grateful to Bridget from Diabetes UK for allowing me to share the stage

• Watching my friends speak.  I saw Kelly deliver a great speech about her Sugarbuddies experience, and Laura talk so passionately about NICE guidelines, both within a few hours of each other.

• The 5k fun run.  It take a lot to motivate me out for a run before 7am.  But it WAS fun (sorry Ali) and it lead tomy fastest 5k time and the creation of...

• The #DPC16 #DOC T-Shirt... a sixth form leavers present for the Conference Age

• Sanofi Coffee.   The Sanofi stand was the default meeting place for everyone and I think it was a unanimous vote that their coffee was the best (other pharma coffee stands are/were available)

• Seeing people you weren't expecting to.  Basically half of my diabetes team in Sheffield showed up for the conference which is not wholly unexpected, but running into so many of them in such a busy environment was a surprise, but a very welcome one

• Hearing the conclusion of something I'd been a part of.  The very first lecture at #DPC16 gave the results of the clinical trial I took part in for two years.  I'd heard the headline news, but to see the presentation was very interesting (and a little controversial)

• Meeting so many people.  Obviously putting faces to names from the #doc was incredible, but having the chance for a few words with those who'd spoken so passionately or chaired incredible discussions was a great opportunity.

• Being part of something.  I wrote a quick overview of what seemed to be the messages of #DPC16 and I think to have been there and be part of that rising tide of change was a real highlight.  Having the chance to add my voice to the huge buzz that was already there is a highlight, and to be able to share what's going on with everyone was a real privilege

• A couple of quotes.  Nick Oliver said at #YDEF16 "I don't know if any of you have had a hypo, but we tell people with diabetes to eat 15g of carbs and wait 15 minutes.  I dare you to do that".  Partha Kar told a room full of diabetes clinicians "None of you are experts. People with diabetes are the experts. We're all just specialists, at best".  It's reassuring how much they get it.

I think there's more to add to that list, and I'll no doubt return to this in the coming days as my brain settles down.  But for now, that's just a few of so many things that made this week special.

It's not the end, its a new beginning

As we started with a cliched "this is what it's like" post, we end with this "this is how it was" entry.  Except that it isn't the end - at least it better not be.  (I've got a few more blogs up my sleeve for a start).

The last three days of #DPC16 (I'm finding it difficult to stop typing that hashtag - muscle memory at its finest) and the first lead in day of #YDEF16 have been exactly how you'd imagine. Whirlwind, busy, chaotic, tiring and complicated... but also fun, eye opening, insightful, and inspiring.

Pretty much everyone I've spoken to on the last day has asked me the same thing; "How's it been?"  I think my answer's always been the same - incredible.  I probably ran out of proper superlatives at the end of the first day and just settled on that one.

I said at the very start that it's hard to describe the general buzz of the conference and I'm not sure I'm any closer to being able to articulate it now.  I don't suppose that matters too much.  What I think does matter is the messages that come out of the conference.  If you've followed along with any of my tweets, hopefully you've had a sense of both the content of the individual sessions as well as the overarching messages that I think have been present.

If not, I'm going to try and present that a bit more clearly over the next few paragraphs...

I wrote yesterday about how a lot of sessions had references to individual care, some more pointedly than others.  That really feels like the essence of a lot of what I've heard over the last three days.

• Education needs to be individual, as the current offering doesn't suit everyone  
• Targets for people with diabetes need to be individual because what's achievable is different for everyone  
• Type 2 Prevention is potentially individual if we can identify those with specific factors making them more susceptible to the condition
• Transition clinics for younger people with diabetes need to have an individual approach because there are so many individual factors to consider...

People with diabetes aren't numbers.  My diabetes isn't defined by an HbA1c score of 6.6%, cholesterol of 3.2, BMI of 28 any more than the conference is defined by being 3 days long, having 3000 visitors and containing over 100 talks.  You don't get a qualitative understanding by looking at numbers - context is hugely important.

We as people with diabetes know that how our diabetes behaves.  We know that our diabetes is different to other people's.  We know that our care has to be different to other people's because we are all individuals.  The message that care has to be provided on an individual basis came out again and again, and it was very encouraging to see.

There was a clear sense that it's time to stop talking, and start doing.  I think that comes with some caveats though.  "Doing" something isn't always easy - and I think that's where a lot of us feel a sense of frustration, people with diabetes and healthcare professionals alike.   But I think that tide is changing.

I've been fortunate to sit in on some sessions where clinical teams are doing something.  Whether that's redesigning transition services for young people, putting together an integrated care model for repeat DKA admissions, or building a new way of delivering diabetes services for people across an entire CCG.  There are groups of people across the entire UK saying "I know what needs to be done, just let me do it".

Change can be a slow process.  Within an organisation like the NHS it can feel glacial sometimes.  But it's coming - you can sense it.  To me, it feels like there are so many people, doing so much to change care within diabetes that it's going to be difficult to hold it back.  You'll get swept up in it one way or another and have to decide whether you want to ride the wave or drown in it.

So where am I going with all this?  The title of this post alludes to the start of the next chapter for all of us.  The conference has been an incredible experience for me, as I hope it has for every single person there this week.  But what do we do now it's over?  Can we go back to doing what we've been doing?  Was that just three days of information and "oh that's interesting" seminars, or was it actually the start of something?

I walked out of the conference centre this afternoon with a range of emotions.  But the one that I hope to carry forward most of all is that sense of inspiration to do something.  I've been fortunate to meet a HUGE number of people over the last three days, clinical and #doc folk alike.  Every one of them talks about making things better, about changing what isn't working, about doing something... It feels like it's my duty to carry that on outside of the conference walls.

I think if even half the people at the conference leave with that same sense of inspiration and empowerment, the changes we've all longed for in diabetes care will be with us sooner than we all thought.  It's the end of the conference, but it's the start of something new.

Thanks to Diabetes UK for the opportunity to attend the conference, to those who I met, however briefly, to those who stood at lecterns and spoke passionately about what they've already done and what they still strive for, and to those who followed along virtually... thank you.