Patient Grant Volker who has attended the DESMOND structured course for Type 2 diabetes at our Craylands Clinic, Basildon, has been named Patient of the Year at the annual Celebrating DESMOND Awards.

The DESMOND course run at the Craylands Clinic helped Grant lose 10 kilograms and he halved his blood sugar level as a result. He no longer requires statins and his medication is now less than his originally prescribed dose.

Prior to diagnosis Grant, from Basildon, felt fatigued, but since joining the DESMOND programme in July last year he has noticeably started to feel better.

On hearing he had been won the title, Grant said: "It's wonderful to be receiving the patient of the year DESMOND Award and I'm so proud for the fabulous South West Essex DESMOND team who made this achievement possible."

The winners were revealed to mark World Diabetes Day on Saturday, November 14.

The Celebrating DESMOND Annual Awards were launched to reward excellence and good practice. This year, there were five categories and teams were nominated from as far as New Zealand and Australia.

Bernie Stribling, national director of the DESMOND Programme, said: "The standard was high with a degree of excellence demonstrated by many of the entries. However, Grant showed ‘star quality’ and a dedicated commitment to DESMOND.

"This has been proved by his weight loss and the fact he no longer needs to take statins.

"It was clear that DESMOND is making a difference to the lives of people with, and at risk of, Type 2 diabetes, but it is nice to hear such great feedback from someone who has benefitted from receiving the programme."

The winners were decided by a judging panel comprising of senior members of the DESMOND National Office.

Entrants to the other award categories needed to demonstrate they had helped make a difference to the lives of people with Type 2 diabetes and helped support the learner by developing their attitudes, beliefs, knowledge and skills to self-manage their diabetes.