Written communications from hospital diabetes departments: standards required to mitigate unintentional harm

The importance of the words spoken by healthcare professionals when communicating to people with diabetes has been highlighted in the recent Position Statement of the English Advisory Group 1. The Working Group used a number of examples to illustrate both the potential positive and negative impact that language used by healthcare professionals can have on people with diabetes. The statement encouraged staff to be respectful, clear and understanding. The aim of this Letter is to use selected examples to raise awareness of the potential negative impact that written communications from hospital departments can have on people with diabetes, and to call for standards to be co‐produced to drive improvements.