A Stockport community diabetes specialist nurse is part of a team who have received a national award for their work setting up a forum supporting colleagues across the country.

Susan Mason, together with colleagues from other trusts, received the Diabetes Healthcare Professional of the Year title at the Quality in Care Diabetes Programme Awards for setting up the DSN (Diabetes Specialist Nurse) Forum, where specialists can share best practice to help patients with diabetes.

Starting as a Facebook page earlier this year, the DSN Forum has gone on to include a webpage, Twitter account and blogs, and now has over 900 diabetes specialist nurse members across the country. It allows nurses to share best practice in all aspects of diabetes care and treatment, and also serves as an area to ask for advice and support from fellow specialists.

The Quality in Care Diabetes Awards, partnered with pharmaceutical company Sanofi, rewards and shares innovative quality in diabetes management, education and services for people with diabetes and their families. Susan received the award together with colleagues Amanda Epps, Sarah Gregory, Bethany Kelly and Becky Watt.

Dr Hubert Bland, Country Medical Chair and Medical Head Diabetes and Cardiovascular for Sanofi UK praised the winners, saying “This year we were especially keen to see evidence of quality improvement which aligns with current NHS priorities, and we look forward to seeing the winning programmes disseminated more widely for the ultimate benefit of people with diabetes and their families and carers.”