Type 1 Diabetes supports for kids in England | Schools and Hospitals

[ven2066]

Dear Parents,

Appreciate your respnse.

We are moving to England in a month and we are exploring type of supports we get for our TD1 son in schools and Hospitals.

We are yet to choose the place of stay in England. Before we choose the place we want to know which shool has good support for kids with T1D.

Secondly, We are checking what would be provided by the hospital and should we need to buy to support my son's T1D like CGM, Pump, Insulin jab, needles, test strips etc..

Third, We would like to register ourself for the available TD1 community or social media group. Please let us know if there is any exist.

Thanks in Advance.

Any particular area in England? Schools will be different, not every one will have had a T1D child before.
There are Facebook forum groups which are more helpful - I'd go there for advice eg m.facebook.com/groups/18414742527/?ref=share

There will be a handful of kids with it in every school so you don’t need to look for anything specialist in that sense. All treatment and drugs are free if you’re entitled to free prescription on NHS.

Re hospital support - it really depends on if you will be allowed recourse to the NHS. On the NHS strips, test meters, insulin are covered. Pumps and CGM have to have funding applied for by the hospital dependent on meeting NICE criteria. www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng18/chapter/Recommendations#type-1-diabetes

which shool has good support for kids with T1D

I really don’t think you can find a school like this! Many schools will never have taught a child with diabetes but would be great if they did have one. Some have, but it was 10 years ago, other have and were well-supported by the diabetic nursing team, others have but the senco and staffing have all left since then. Schools aren’t medical specialists and staffing turnover in many schools at the moment is high so even if you heard that ‘x school’ was amazing with their diabetic child, none of the SLT/support staff who were there 5 years ago, actually remain.

I would choose schools you like in the area you like and chat to the senco. Depending on their age/level of need/LEA/school, they may be able to apply for high need funding for them.

Once you have moved, you will hopefully be assigned to the relevant hospital/diabetic nursing team who can advise on equipment and local support.