Getting Involved

DAFNE is currently offered at 37 diabetes centres (rising to 56 centres by the end of February 2007) in the UK & Eire, where it is considered part of the routine management for Type 1 diabetes.

If you receive your routine diabetes care from one of the current DAFNE centres please contact your diabetes team for further information and details of course availability.

If you do not receive your care from a current DAFNE centre you cannot access a DAFNE course. DAFNE can only be offered by a diabetes unit that have DAFNE trained educators and doctors. There are no private DAFNE courses available. However, any diabetes unit can train to become a DAFNE centre. There are many diabetes units that have already expressed an interest in becoming trained DAFNE centres and are trying to secure funding and/or staff in order to do this.

However, any diabetes unit can train to become a DAFNE centre. There are many diabetes units that have already expressed an interest in becoming trained DAFNE centres and are trying to secure funding and/or staff in order to do this.

Following the reinstatement of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence Technical Appraisal 60 on Structured Education [13], all Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) must offer all people with diabetes high quality structured education from January 2006.

Any structured education programme should match the criteria agreed by
a joint working party with representatives from the Department of Health, National Diabetes Support Team and Diabetes UK in November 2004. The four criteria are:
• Have a structured written curriculum
• Have trained educators
• Be quality assurance
• Be audited

To date the only structured education programme for Type 1 diabetes that meets the criteria is DAFNE.

The National Diabetes Support Team have produced a leaflet aimed at people with diabetes explaining what they should expect from their local diabetes service in terms of diabetes education.

We recommend that you contact your diabetes unit and inquire if they have any plans to become a DAFNE centre in the future - they may be one of the units that have already expressed an interest.

If your diabetes service does not have plans to become involved in the DAFNE but is interested in offering DAFNE, you could recommend that they visit this website for further information.