As a diabetes team we work hard to help children and their families manage their diabetes confidently and appropriately. The team offer specialist tailored advice, guidance and structured education from diagnosis in a supportive and holistic manner. We take into account the way they want to live their lives and the things they want to do as much as possible. We aim to be supportive, and non-judgmental, and to be available for advice, in person or by phone, throughout the week Monday-Friday 9am-5pm. After this time or on a bank holiday or weekend, a young person or family can obtain advice about their child’s diabetes by ringing the on-call paediatric registrar through hospital switchboard.
Diabetes technology, which includes insulin pumps, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and hybrid closed loop systems, is changing all the time. We provide the appropriate technology, education and support to our children and young people in accordance with NICE guidance.
We prepare our young people for transition to adult services. This includes seeing the young person in high school without their parent/carer and contacting them by phone or email. We encourage them to attend clinic appointments without parent carer if they feel confident to do so. We are using the ready steady go tool to help develop their self-management skills.
At the end of year 11 they will be invited to attend transition clinics every 3 months. Transition clinics are monthly on a Thursday afternoon, they include paediatric consultant with member of adult diabetes team and adult consultant with paediatric diabetes nurse. We also have a nurse transition clinic which runs monthly with paediatric diabetes specialist nurse (PDSN). At any point from commencing transition clinics until 18th birthday they can choose to move across to young person’s clinic.
We try and prepare them as well as possible for life as young adults and are always sorry when the time comes to transfer them onto our colleagues in the Young Person’s Clinic.