Diabetes Education

What is this service?

Our Diabetes Education service provides structured education programmes for adults diagnosed with Type 1 or Type 2 Diabetes. Our programmes help to improve patients' knowledge and understanding of their condition. We aim to provide information and guidance to patients, their families and carers to allow them to self-manage their condition. We run a number of education courses throughout the year at various locations in Bristol, South Gloucestershire, and North Somerset. Please contact the Diabetes Education Office (contact details below) for a list of our current course dates.

What does this service do?

We provide a number of education courses to help people with Type 1 or Type 2 Diabetes learn more about their condition and how to manage it. All of our courses are free to attend and are run by local healthcare professionals. We have resources available for people with learning difficulties and advice available in different languages. If you would like to find out more about this please contact our office using the contact details below.

Who is this service for?

Type 2 Diabetes Courses

Living with Diabetes

Based on national standards, this is for people who have been newly diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes (within the last 12 months). This is a one day course with a half day follow-up approximately 3 months later. The course is held in numerous community based settings. We are now piloting a specific course on living with diabetes aimed at South Asian and Somali groups’. To find out more about this please contact the office (contact details below).

Can I Eat Bananas?

For people with Type 2 diabetes who have started on Insulin treatment. This is a two day course run over two weeks e.g. a Friday for two consecutive weeks. The ‘Can I Eat Bananas?’ course will help you to understand:

What diabetes is
What care you can expect from your healthcare team, including what is checked at an annual review
Glycaemic index … is it gobbledygook?
Which foods affect blood glucose levels
Foods which help and foods which hinder
What makes a healthy diet and how to lose weight
How to make changes to lifestyle
How lifestyle affects blood pressure

Type 1 Diabetes Courses

Food Freedom

Based on the national BERTIE course, this four day course will teach you how to adjust your insulin dose according to your food intake. Run one day a week for four weeks by a dietician and diabetes specialist nurse, the course will provide accurate information about diabetes to help you help yourself and will give you the opportunity to ask questions. In addition to this the course will enable you to talk to and learn from other people with type 1 diabetes.

Skills for Life

This course is for adults with Type 1 diabetes who have been diagnosed for at least three years. Skills for Life is facilitated by team of specialist nurses, psychologists and dieticians and runs for 3 hours a week over a six week period (some evening courses are available). The course provides skills and knowledge on how to live a healthy life with diabetes and enables you to meet others who have been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and share experiences. You will also be told about local groups.

How can I access this service?

Access to this service is by referral only. Patients can be referred by their GP or practice nurse. Patients can also refer themselves to the service by contacting the address below. Patients are welcome to contact us if they have Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes and have queries about accessing our service. Referral forms for all of our courses are available to download in the 'Document Downloads' section on the left of this page.

How to contact us

We have just recently moved to a new location, the full address and contact details can be found below.

Patients with 1 or Type 2 diabetes are welcome to contact us at:

address Diabetes and Nutrition Services
John Milton Clinic
Crow Lane
Henbury
BS10 7DP

[email protected]
0117 959 8970
0117 959 8971