Being locked into a deadly pandemic does not alter the fact that a high-quality diabetes inpatient service is still required and people with diabetes still need advice on the best way to manage their condition.

As sharing best practice is at the heart of DPC, we wanted to help healthcare professionals by signposting them to some of the most helpful resources which may be needed over the next few months.

NHS England was one of the first organisations to issue guidance for both hospital and community diabetes teams.

The Clinical guide for the management of people with diabetes during the coronavirus pandemic does not comprehensively cover all diabetes services that any particular provider may be delivering, but does provide a framework for considerations and priorities.

The guidance urges doctors who have “general responsibilities” in relation to COVID-19 to “seek and act on national and local guidelines”. It also reminds healthcare professionals that they also have a responsibility to ensure that “essential diabetes care continues with the minimum burden on the NHS”.

NICE has published its first three rapid guidelines on the care of people with suspected and confirmed COVID-19, and in patients without COVID-19. The organisation said the guidance has been developed to “maximise patient safety whilst making the best use of NHS resources and protecting staff from infection”.

A series of recommendations regarding COVID-19 in children with diabetes have been published by the International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD) and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) has issued coronavirus advice for pregnant women.

We know there has been some confusion within the diabetes community about whether key workers with either type 1 or type 2 should be self-isolating.

To help healthcare professionals deal with people who have questions, Diabetes UK has published guidance on its website . The information is constantly being updated and is based on the latest guidance from the government.

In addition, TREND-UK has updated its sick-day rules leaflets for people with type 1 and 2 diabetes in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The documents ‘Type 1 diabetes: What to do when you are ill’ and ‘Type 2 diabetes: What to do when you are ill’ have been fully updated with the latest clinical guidance and are aimed at people with diabetes.