The role of the coordination office

The Role of the Coordination Office

A key role in the successful embedding of DESMOND in your locality is that of the Administrator, who supports the service. In some cases, this might be more than one person. We would also recommend investing in an Embedder role to support implementing the many strategies found in this portal- details described below. Both roles sit within the Provider service. Example descriptions of responsibilities for the two roles can be found below:

Administrator

• Main point of contact for all referrals to the programme

• Ensures there is an auditable process in place for all aspects of the pathway, with clear monitoring timescales for each part, which are determined by the service specification that the contract is working towards

• Logs all referrals into the chosen administration system and acknowledges receipt of patient being offered choices of dates and course availability

• Confirms booking details in writing to each patient (letter, email or text)

• Responsible for the booking of suitable venues for course delivery or organising all online bookings for virtual groups

• Responsible for a rota of Educators to deliver groups

• Overall responsibility for available resources for each course, including biomedical information required as part of delivery

• Stock maintenance and ordering of resources

• Ensuring confidentiality at all times when dealing with patient identifiable data

• Supports the Embedder in the collation of timely reports and capturing of evaluations and feedback from service users, to be used at frequent service contract meetings with the Commissioners

• Manages all incoming communications (such as telephone and emails), to delegate to other, more appropriate, members of the team where necessary

• Performs general office duties, to include photocopying, filing, scanning

• Keeps accurate financial records of all patient course activity

• Ensures patient attendees are provided access to eLearning – if provided as part of the service

• Liaises with Educators to ensure there is an accreditation process in place for new trainees and that adequate support is available, and ensures there is an adequate mentoring process in place to support the development of any lay educators in the team

Embedder

• Acts as the first point of contact for promoting the delivery of diabetes education/DESMOND within the region

• Designs new/adapts existing local referral pathways and reports on referral flow

• Has a working knowledge of and fosters good working relationships with all referral sources

• Understands the best communication channels available to create a network across the region, so as to foster a sense of community

• Understands any issues in relation to referral mechanisms and is the first point of contact, ensuring that any concerns are alleviated

• Promotes DESMOND as an integral aspect of all care pathways and offers solutions to areas of concern

• Negotiates with patient groups on their rights to receive diabetes education as a therapeutic option for diabetes management

• Develops and sustains good relations with team members, including regular contact with all local educators, administrators and champions

• Develops and sustains good working relations and buy-in with all stakeholder groups (including patients/service users) and on all organisational levels, aided by the HCP Champion

• Presents updates back to commissioners on the impact of their work, including reporting on referral and attendance rates as part of the contract monitoring process

• Prepares and distributes (with the help of local administrator) information back to the sources of referral so they are updated and appraised of their patients’ progress

• Maintains oversight of the income and expenditure related to all patient course and embedding activities, to ensure that costs are contained within contracted value

• Understands the value of non-cost based activities and where costs can be saved

• Liaises with commissioners of the service to negotiate on increase in referral numbers based on evidence of attendance and audit of outcomes

• Is innovative in the approach to structured education, by working closely with commissioners, helping them to understand the value of DESMOND and how this can help save money elsewhere across the diabetes pathway. For example: if there is an increase in emergency admission of patients with diabetes, the Embedder might offer a solution of targeting this group by offering structured education

• Works closely with community leaders to ensure any vulnerable groups (highlighted from the local needs assessment) or those who disengage with other care providers are included in the offer of structure education

• Where appropriate, assists in the recruitment of local administrator/s and Champions

• Uses this portal as a guide to:

  • Prepare and implement local Marketing and Communications Strategies

  • Ensure that available patient courses are appropriate and accessible to the whole community, including any cultural adaptations required

  • Develop and maintain a locally-appropriate referral pathway and administration/booking system, including the use of self-referral and, where possible, link with existing practice systems, aided by the Champion

  • Develop locally-appropriate referrer engagement materials and training events

  • Create and maintain a community awareness package

  • Develop/link and consult with existing Patient and Public Involvement Groups and other groups for people with long-term conditions

  • Build an online and physical resource of local signposting opportunities to other available services that would support patients’ self-management

Further reading

For more ideas and information, click on the following links:

Structured Education for Type 2 Diabetes – A toolkit for optimal delivery

APPG Taking Control: Supporting People to Self-Manage their Diabetes

What nurses can do to improve attendance at structured education programmes