Introducing reflectance meters to hospital wards

The introduction of Reflolux S blood glucose meters (BM UK Ltd) onto all wards of a District General Hospital is described. We established a continuing, structured education programme and a laboratory‐based quality assurance scheme (QA) and issued guidelines regarding safety and correct usage of the meter. A formal hospital policy on blood glucose monitoring together with certification of user competence recorded on a database has enabled evaluation of nurse training and audit. The introduction of a QA scheme has allowed assessment of meter results, identified areas where more education was needed and provided data to feed back to ward staff. Poor performers have benefited from positive liaison with diabetic nurse specialists at an early stage.