Bed occupancy by diabetic patients.

The Royal Newcastle Hospital Diabetic Education and Stabilization Centre was instituted primarily to improve diabetics' understanding of their disease and its everyday management. Simultaneously with a five-day education course, stabilization if insulin-dependent diabetics was undertaken on an outpatient basis. In order to disseminate diabetic education as widely as possible, trained nurses from near and far were included in each course. It is believed that these nurses will be able to offer good advice to diabetics who have no other source of reliable information. By actively attempting to reduce hospital bed occupancy by diabetics there has been a reduction of 1400 bed days per year. It is recommended that similar centres be instituted throughout Australia.