Health written question – answered at on 22 November 2011.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health
(1) what steps he has taken to provide young people and adolescents with diabetes with information about their condition and how to manage it; and what (a) online guides, (b) telephone services, (c) apps and (d) other educational services his Department has developed in this area; [R]
(2) if he will make it his policy to support the establishment of educational services for young people and adolescents with diabetes which are staffed by other young people with the condition; and what consideration he has given to the form such support could take; [R]
(3) what assessment his Department has made of the effect of establishing good diabetes management behaviours during childhood and adolescence on (a) the long-term health of children and adolescents and (b) costs incurred by the NHS in providing treatment of diabetes and diabetes-related issues. [R]
The NHS Operating Framework 2011-12 specifically states that primary care trusts should be commissioning the relevant structured education to support all people with diabetes.
The best practice tariff being introduced soon for paediatric diabetes also includes a requirement for 24-hour support and advice to be available to patients and their families. Local national health service organisations are responsible for providing comprehensive, high-quality and safe diabetes services appropriate to their local populations, including providing information and education to people with diabetes about their condition and how to manage it.
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance on the diagnosis and management of type 1 diabetes in children, young people and adults recommends that children and young people are offered a structured programme of education when they are newly diagnosed, and ongoing opportunities to access information, to help them manage their condition.
Charities such as Diabetes UK and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation also provide information resources in different formats for people with diabetes.
We also recognise the difficulties that some children and adolescents with diabetes have in accessing the support they need to manage their condition at school. The Department for Children, Schools and Families, in close liaison with the Department, issued guidance on “Managing Medicines in Schools and Early Years Setting” in November 2007. This guidance explains the roles and responsibilities of employers, parents and carers, governing bodies, head teachers, teachers and other staff and of local health services.
The information is not collected centrally in a way that would allow assessments to be made of the effects of establishing good diabetes management behaviours during childhood.
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