Honorary Associate Professor
The Leicester Diabetes Centre (LDC) are delighted to announce that Kath Higgins, Consultant in Diabetes Medicine, has recently received an Honorary Associate Professor title from the University of Leicester (UoL)
Kath has had 29 peer reviewed publications and has also led, or been significantly involved in, a number of pivotal programmes developed at the LDC, UoL, and across the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS trust (UHL). We caught up with Kath to understand more about her career, her work at the LDC and her recent honorary title.
Kath has worked with the LDC in a variety of roles, with her key role as a module lead for two of the UoL Diabetes MSc distance learning modules: Adult Inpatient Diabetes, and Diabetes Complications.
As a module lead, Kath is responsible for the preparation of course content, ensuring that the module delivers a good quality learning experience at an appropriate level for adult learners and that the module content is updated to keep up with changes in published evidence and guidance. Kath sets the exams and case studies for the modules and works with the team in the assessment and marking of papers.
Kath commented: “One of the most rewarding aspects of being a module lead is interacting with the students via online discussion forums or revision sessions.”
Working closely with the Effective Diabetes Education Now - EDEN team, Kath has developed the ITS (Inpatient Diabetes Training and Support) eHandbook, e-learning module and resources.
Kath said, “Implementation of this educational toolkit has been key to my NHS work in developing an Insulin Safety education strategy for frontline Healthcare Professionals. The e-learning module has been endorsed by the NHSE Diabetes programme and has been shared with 12 other trusts to support their Insulin Safety work. A proud moment was when ITS Diabetes won the Rowan Hillson Inpatient Safety award in 2018.”
Kath has led on the ITS Diabetes programme: an electronic toolkit focusing on supporting all frontline Healthcare Professionals (HCP). The toolkit was originally designed with junior doctors in mind, however it is accessible to all and set at a level which is appropriate for medical staff, nursing staff and pharmacists.
The toolkit offers an eHandbook, an e-learning module (which trusts can upload for free and use for their essential to role staff training if they wish), handy flashcards for mini-teach sessions, and a self-reflection workbook for junior doctors to support them in developing the key skills and knowledge to manage inpatients with diabetes safely. The eHandbook and resources are short and easy to read with plenty of graphics and animations to support learning.
Previous experience at the LDC has seen Kath work with the EDEN team, UHL diabetes foot lead nurse and Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust (LPT) diabetes lead podiatrist to develop a diabetes foot care training day for primary care staff, which was rolled out across the East Midlands.
Kath was appointed as a Consultant in Diabetes Medicine in 2009; since then her position has evolved, with the main focus of her work as a Consultant transforming the inpatient diabetes service and improving safety for inpatients with diabetes. She has worked less than full time (LTFT) since being appointed.
Kath commented: “I am thankful to have worked LTFT for the whole of my career, which has enabled me to balance home and work life.”
Holding a lead role in the UHL Inpatient Diabetes Service until November 2021, Kath worked closely with the lead inpatient Diabetes Specialist Nurse (DSN), senior UHL executive staff and the Quality and Safety teams to ensure insulin safety became a UHL trust priority.
Kath added: “I really enjoyed the breadth of this work spanning clinical and project management. Incorporating quality improvement and using technology to support safety, whilst interacting with staff across the whole of the organisation.”
Kath also works in the Diabetes Outpatient Department as part of the Diabetes Foot Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) and leading a complex diabetes clinic in both UHL and Oakham (with another consultant colleague). Kath’s job has allowed her to use skills and knowledge to support patient care in these areas. Diabetes care requires a multi-professional team and working within this MDT is one of the great aspects of the role.
Alongside Kath’s clinical role, she has several other roles, including Foundation Training Programme Director and also Foundation Programme Expansion lead for Health Education East Midlands (HEEM). These allow her to support postgraduate medical trainees at Foundation level. Kath is excited for the introduction of the new research enhanced Foundation posts coming in 2022 to UHL. These roles will be working at both the LDC and the Biomedical Research Unit (BRU), allowing early career doctors an experience of research.
Kath comments: “I particularly enjoy these roles supporting newly qualified doctors in their transition from medical school to the Foundation programme and beyond.”
Another of Kath’s many roles is the UHL Supported Return to Training (SuppoRTT) Champion, which means she is responsible for ensuring that the Health Education England (HEE) SuppoRTT process is applied in UHL for any trainee returning to training after a break of more than three months. Kath’s also a trained mentor and mentors new consultants via the UHL mentoring scheme.
Over the years Kath has developed strong links with the LDC and UoL, particularly with respect to her work in Insulin Safety and HCP education. Kath has developed interactive sessions for medical students and implemented training for all grades of medical staff, nursing staff and pharmacists.
“My role as module lead for the MSc has supported the growth of the UoL Diabetes MSc programme with popular and successful modules. I enjoy and value the interaction between teaching and learning for HCPs and delivery of high-quality care for people in hospital with diabetes.” comments Kath.
On receiving the title of Associate Professor at the University of Leicester, Kath commented:
“I was really proud and pleased when I heard that I had become an Associate Professor at the UoL. I work hard and take pride in all I do and it is a pleasure working collaboratively with LDC and UoL on work which has been recognised both nationally and by this award. I feel that my hard work had been recognised and I feel inspired to keep pushing myself and hopefully one day I will be able to apply for promotion to Honorary Professor! I am also very thankful for the support and teamwork of both the UHL Diabetes team and LDC which has been a key enabler to my success.”
“As a woman working less than full time, I hope I can act as a positive role model and inspire others who are on their career journeys.”