The ‘Best Practice Tariff for Paediatric Diabetes’ has been set by leading paediatric doctors, nurses and commissioners, working in partnership with NHS Diabetes and sets out 13 mandatory care standards for paediatric diabetes service teams to meet. Providers who can prove they meet these levels of care will qualify for greater funding. Local services unable to achieve these standards will be supported to improve, but face having their funding withdrawn if unable to reach the required level by April 2013.
“Our Paediatric Diabetes Networks have been working hard with the Department of Health’s PbR2 team over the past 18 months to ensure the introduction of our tariff,” said NHS Diabetes Paediatric Network Clinical Lead and Consultant in Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, Dr Tabitha Randell, who led the initiative.
“Looking to the long term, we hope the changes to the financial levers will lead to an improvement in the care and outcomes for children and young people with diabetes. This should then result in a reduction in costs to the service, in levels of emergency hospital admissions among children with type 1 diabetes, and in the incidence of life-changing, yet often preventable, complications associated with the condition.”
Anna Morton, Director of NHS Diabetes, added: “Outcomes for children with diabetes in this country compare poorly to the rest of Europe. We will show that with a proper funding mechanism and access to expert support, providers can improve, and unacceptable variations in care can be addressed.
“We are encouraging all paediatric providers, particularly those in poor performing areas, to engage with us to ensure our standards are met, and that every child, no matter where they live, receives the care and support they deserve.”
NHS Diabetes is calling on all healthcare professionals involved in the support and care of children and young people with diabetes to join their paediatric diabetes network to ensure sharing of good practice, up-to-date guidance and education tools.
Source: www.diabetes.nhs.uk