New data from Northern Health’s Australian National Diabetes Inpatient Audit (AusNaDIA) confirms what clinicians are seeing every day across the health service: diabetes is becoming an increasingly significant driver of complexity in Northern Health’s inpatient population.

A snapshot audit of 502 inpatients across Epping, Broadmeadows and Bundoora hospitals in May 2026 found that 37 per cent had known diabetes, including 35 per cent at Epping, 42 per cent at Broadmeadows and 40 per cent at Bundoora. A further four per cent were found to have previously unrecognised hyperglycaemia during their admission.

Northern Health continues to record the highest inpatient diabetes prevalence of any Melbourne metropolitan hospital, with rates steadily increasing since comparable audits undertaken in 2017 and 2021.

The growing burden has significant implications for both people living with diabetes and health services, contributing to longer hospital stays and higher rates of diabetes-related complications. It also reinforces the need for innovative and coordinated models of care to support a community where diabetes is increasingly common.

As we mark National Diabetes Week, Diabetes Australia is amplifying the voices of people affected by diabetes through its Living Out Loud campaign, inviting people living with diabetes, their carers, researchers, health professionals and clinicians to share the one thing they have always wished others knew about diabetes.

For Edward “Ed” Smith, that message is simple: a diabetes diagnosis is not the end of your story.

“The day I was diagnosed was the day my life changed,” Ed said.

Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in February 1993 at the age of 25, Ed remembers feeling shocked and frightened.

“I was probably scared because I had a young family at the time,” he said.

After blood tests revealed a serious concern, his doctor urgently referred him across the road to what was then PANCH Hospital, now Northern Health.

“There was so much information to take in. You feel overwhelmed.”

In the first year after diagnosis, Ed’s weight dropped from 110 kilograms to 69 kilograms as he struggled to adjust to his new reality.

A turning point came through the support of diabetes educator Daphne, whose care and guidance helped him navigate those difficult early years.

“You couldn’t ask for a better educator,” Ed said.

“She helped me through all my anxiety. She helped me with my food and how to manage my diabetes.

“If I needed someone to talk to, she would tell me to call her. Most of the time she would stop what she was doing and help me through what I was going through. She was my angel.”

More than 35 years later, Ed remains grateful for the support he has received from Northern Health’s endocrinologists and diabetes educators.

“The doctors and educators are there to help, as long as you keep up your side by listening and understanding what they’re telling you,” he said.

Ed has gone on to build a successful lawn-mowing business, which he credits with helping him stay active and manage his diabetes.

“It keeps me fit, keeps me moving and helps me manage my sugars,” he said.

“I’m 58 years old now and I’m still working on the tools.”

As part of the Living Out Loud campaign, Ed hopes his experience encourages others living with diabetes or facing a new diagnosis.

It’s not the end of the world if you find out you’ve got diabetes,” he said.

“You just need to ask questions if you don’t understand because the more you understand, the easier it gets.

The findings from AusNaDIA also highlight the value of Northern Health’s Northern Inpatient Diabetes Service (NIDS), established in 2020 to provide dedicated specialist support to inpatients with diabetes. The service has already demonstrated reductions in severe high and low blood glucose events, with outcomes recognised in peer-reviewed literature.

As diabetes continues to affect a growing number of people across Melbourne’s north, Northern Health remains committed to improving outcomes through specialist care, education, innovation and its ongoing Diabetes Strategic Plan.

For Ed, the message he wants people to hear during National Diabetes Week is one of hope.

“Life doesn’t end when you get diabetes. You can still travel, have fun and enjoy life. It’s a life change, but it can be a better one.”

“And to my doctor and the educators — you know who you are — thank you from the bottom of my heart. You’ve been my rock.”