1	Diabetes UK Annual Professional Conference 2008 Working With Parents As Partners Jackie Jacombs UK CWD
2	Taking Diabetes to School
3	Taking Diabetes to School - an injection of common sense It is hard to imagine the idea of a child being denied a lifesaving medication and support because adults will not take on the responsibility of helping them, yet it happens every day to children across the UK.
4	Taking Diabetes to School The plight of children with Type 1 diabetes is being overlooked due to the focus on the ever-increasing number of adults with Type 2 diabetes. 80 – 90% of children with diabetes have type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is not preventable and medical and scientific experts know of nothing a child, or their parents, could have done to prevent type 1 diabetes from developing. We believe that there should be clear legislation ensuring that children with chronic conditions, which include diabetes, are provided with proper care at school.
5	"In “Choosing health" In “Choosing health” the government stated “Children spend on average a quarter of their waking lives in school.The school environment, attitudes of staff and other pupils, as well as what children learn in the class room, have a major influence on the development of their knowledge and understanding of health.” (2004 p55)
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7	Common issues facing children with diabetes at school Failure to have trained staff to assist children with diabetes. Lack of understanding about diabetes and its management. Failure of LEAs to provide schools with support and funding. Refusal to help with blood glucose tests. Refusal to help with administration of insulin.
8	“I forgot to make a back-up copy of my brain, so everything I learnt last term has been lost”
9	"Some parents are unable to..." Some parents are unable to work outside the home in order to be able to go into school to help with the diabetes care and administer insulin. Some parents have lost their jobs due to taking time off from work to go into school
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11	HENRY MOORE PRIMARY SCHOOL The "Aims" stated on the school's web site . To provide a secure and caring environment in which the emotional, cultural, educational, physical, spiritual and social needs of each child can be met.
12	School Trips Many children are excluded from school trips because of staff anxieties about emergencies, routine diabetes management and injections. Some schools have rejected offers of parents support at these events.
13	"Currently there is no consistency..." Currently there is no consistency with help available in schools
14	Excuses Excuses A letter from the Essex County Council said “The LA’s Health and Safety team for schools does actively encourage schools to adopt this approach but as government has not compelled them to do so, neither can we as the local authority”.
15	"At the present time" At the present time, 85% of children and young people with diabetes are failing to maintain adequate glycaemic control and are not achieving the recommended HbA1c target of under 7.5%. (The Healthcare Commission, 2006).
16	"By the time some of..." By the time some of the youngest children are 25 they will have had type 1 diabetes for over 20 years.
17	What is a disability? When someone is disabled, people expect them to be in a wheelchair, or have a guide dog, or hearing aids. People just don't understand that a child can be “disabled” without looking disabled. Here lies part of the problem.
18	Hidden disabilities Which of these girls requires more support at school? Children and young people with type 1 diabetes are caught between not being fully accepted as having a disability and not being recognised as having a “real” disability
19	Children need more support with diabetes management now than in the past Intensive insulin therapy Home blood glucose monitors Newer insulin preparations Insulin pumps
20	Obtaining funding for extra support
21	"These newer" These newer, flexible insulin regimens require more education and a higher level of carer/parent/patient involvement This often means that the children and teachers need more support in the classroom. Why are schools not getting funding for this?
22	A care package. A new version of pass the parcel It goes like this….. Schools say that they do not have the funding. The LAs say medical needs should be dealt with by the PCT. PCT say that it’s not their problem.
23	Glucagon Glucagon was developed to be administered by people who are not health care professionals. Parents, siblings, babysitters, and other non-health care personnel.
24	Liability School staff get anxious about diabetes management. They worry about the possibility of coming into contact with blood, reading the blood glucose meter, giving or supervising injections and whether the correct insulin dose has been calculated.
25	"Is diabetes management being dictated..." Is diabetes management being dictated by schools?
26	Looking Ahead Diabetes is one of the UK’s most prevalent, debilitating, deadly and costly diseases. Complications cost the NHS a vast amount of money; anything done now to improve control will save money later
27	Discrimination and Goals We must find a way of ensuring that schools receive adequate training, support and funding from their LEAs in order for them to help children with diabetes. The government have a duty to ensure that the funding is available. Diabetes must be managed 24 hours a day seven days a week. We cannot ignore it during school hours just because it is inconvient
28	Further sources of information/links and Acknowledgements UK CWD Advocacy Group and mailing support list: Details here http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/uk/ Report by UK CWD Advocacy Group into discrimination at school. Every Child Matters (or do they) http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/uk/Final6207EveryChildMattersCombined.pdf Jackie Jacombs and Debbie Beskine Report : Accessing Support in Schools for Children with Diabetes http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/uk/AccessingSupportForChildrenWithDiabetesInSchool-UK.pdf Jackie Jacombs INPUT http://www.input.me.uk/ Children with Diabetes website http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/index_cwd.htm Diabetes UK http://www.diabetes.org.uk/ UK JDRF http://www.jdrf.org.uk/ Apologies to R Gasbergen and Diabetes Humour Many thanks to Barb Marche and Andre Picard for their support and ideas