‘Join us on our journey’: developing a new model of care for children and young people with type 1 diabetes, final report for NHS Diabetes, March 2012 is a report on a 3-year research project, funded and supported by NHS Diabetes, from the ‘Getting Sorted’ programme at Leeds Metropolitan University. The report outlines areas of improvement and future recommendations for the care of children and young people with type 1 diabetes, including:
- Standardised and formal training programmes with all staff trained in diabetes
- A mainstream, standardised structured education programme implemented within all diabetes services
- A standardised, formalised diabetes management protocol introduced in primary and secondary schools
- Every diabetes team to have a designated health psychologist
- Transition plans within all diabetes services, centred on the young person
- A holistic approach to diabetes care to be adopted with all young people and parents actively involved
- A universal record-keeping system introduced across all diabetes services
Children and young people with type 1 diabetes, their families and professionals in nine acute trusts across the Yorkshire and Humber region took part in talking group discussions and individual interviews to share experiences of diabetes care provision.
The ‘Join us on our journey’ research project aims to develop a model of care that delivers the aspirations of the policy document ‘Making every young person with diabetes matter’ and improve the care provided for children and young people with type 1 diabetes in England.
Director of NHS Diabetes, Anna Morton, said: ‘All too often we are finding discrepancies between services, particularly in transitional care. Equity of service is the key issue. We are working with the National Paediatric Diabetes Network to ensure that healthcare professionals are supported in improving local services. All children and young people should receive high-quality, cohesive care throughout their diabetes journey.’
The final report builds on the findings of an interim report for NHS Diabetes published in December 2010.
Further information on NHS Diabetes at www.diabetes.nhs.uk
Both the interim and final report ‘Join us on our journey’: developing a new model of care for children and young people with type 1 diabetes can be found at
http://www.diabetes.nhs.uk/about_us/research_and_evaluation/join_us_on_our_journey/