Diabetes service

Your child will now be part of the paediatric service at least until the age of 16. During this time you will have regular contact with us either via telephone, home and schools visits or in diabetes clinics.

Unfortunately there is no know cure for a condition like diabetes but if it is managed well your child can lead a normal life.

What we expect from you

We want you to become ‘experts in diabetes’. Please find below what we expect from you. This should be read by all the immediate family and discussed with your child depending on their age.

Please read and discuss the follow with the team as necessary:

• A commitment to work with the team and to establish a sound understanding of diabetes to achieve the best possible glucose control.
• Although we recognise the pressures of work, there requires a commitment to attend training sessions and outpatient clinics.
• If you are unable to attend clinic please phone and cancel the appointment and a new appointment will be arranged. We aim to see you in clinic a minimum of 4 times a year. This may be more frequent if extra help is needed with diabetes management.
• You will need a USB cable to download your meter at home if possible and we will also download your meter at clinic so please always bring your meter to the clinic appointment. We encourage all families to download their meters every 2 weeks at home and review their data with the help of their diabetes educator.
• Contact the team for advice and help if you feel something is wrong or you are uncertain what to do.
• Try and arrive in outpatients 15 minutes before your appointment so that we can download pumps and meters in advance.
• Inform us of good things and bad things that we may learn from to help us improve our care for you.
• We arrange educational events for families. We would encourage you to try and attend as these as they provide good platform for peer support and networking. There are age banded education clinics each year. They are to offer support with the age and stage your young person is at and also to provide help and expertise with technology. You will get an invite to attend if the topic is relevant to your child’s age or therapy.
• Attendance at these clinics is as important as attending your routine clinic appointment so please try and attend these as well.
• There is also an annual adventure weekend at Edale run by our team for 16 patients. We alternate the age of the young people each year. The places are offered to all of the appropriate age for that year and the cost is heavily subsidised to make sure no one has to miss out. As there are only 16 places each year, so please reply as soon as you get the invite.

What to expect from us

The children and young peoples diabetes team aim to give as highly quality service as possible. This requires trust between the family and diabetes team.

Please find below what you should expect from us:

• We will listen to you and involve you in decision making.
• We will maintain confidentiality.
• We will support you and your family in managing diabetes.
• All children and young people will have a say in decisions about their care and in designing the services they receive.
• We will work in partnership with each child, young person and their family.
• We will always be honest and clear, even if what we say may be difficult.
• Each child and young person will be cared for in an individualised and holistic way.
• The team will offer the best up to date treatment based on current research, which will be delivered to the highest standard.
• We recognise the special and changing needs of children and young people with diabetes. We aim to empower every child, young person and their family to make informed choices by giving honest information.
• We aim to support self-management by providing knowledge and skills to each child and young person to help them manage their own diabetes and integrate it successfully into their daily lives.
• We aim to create a relaxed atmosphere and act as advocates whenever needed.
• We will respect the value and diversity of all children and young people and their families.
• We aim to provide timely access to high quality medical, nursing, dietetic and psychological support.