Refer and signpost
Most people need signposting, not a referral. Both take under a minute in a routine appointment.
Signposting
The one-minute version
Ask one question
“What would you like to be able to do that diabetes is stopping you doing?” Everything follows from the answer.
Give them ICE - insulin, carbohydrate, exercise
Three questions before every session: how much insulin is still active, do I need carbs, what am I about to do?
Hand over the link
Point them at the five short guides on this site. Each one ends with one small challenge - no reading list.
Point them at an app
Enhance-d is free and puts their CGM, wearable and activity data in one view - with an EXTOD group inside it, and a dashboard they can share back with you.
Downloads
A one-page flyer with a QR code to the guides, sized for a clinic printer. Plus the Exercise Confidence Guides as printable PDFs.
Sports clinics
When to refer on
Specialist clinics run by diabetes consultants and dietitians operate across the UK for people who need individual exercise support.
Who to refer
Recurrent exercise-related hypoglycaemia despite a plan
Training for an endurance event
Complex technology needs around activity
High fear of hypoglycaemia limiting daily life
How to refer
Local pathway varies - check your trust's diabetes service first
Include recent CGM data and current insulin regimen
State the person's own exercise goal in their words
Where they are
Clinics operate in several UK regions
Some run virtually, which widens access
Contact details are held on the clinic locations page
“I need a framework I can use in a 15-minute clinic.”
Diabetes specialist nurses
The Rule of ICE (insulin, carbohydrate, exercise), the troubleshooting framework, and a flyer to hand over at the end.
“What do I tell them about fuelling?”
Dietitians
Carbohydrate guidance by intensity and duration, and the fuel chapter of the EXTOD Handbook.
Next
Research
The trials, the publication library, and the evidence each tool here is built on. Courses and the conference are on the events page.