Ealing team shortlisted for national award
Ealing‘s Paediatric Diabetes Team has been shortlisted in the Diabetes Nursing Awards for the second consecutive year.
Their submission for Paediatric Nurse of the Year reflects their work encouraging more children and young people to wear devices that automatically administer insulin as well as being able to remotely monitor blood sugar levels.
Nurse Gillian Adams said: “The pumps allows Type One patients to better manage their condition on a day-to-day basis and we can monitor their condition from the hospital.
“We are seeing a noticeable rise in children with Type One diabetes although there is still no definitive answer on why they are diagnosed with the condition.
“We had five children on pumps five years ago but now have 131 Type One diabetes patients on our books with 112 using pumps.
“It’s extraordinary how quickly the technology has evolved with the pumps - which are fixed to the tummy, arm, leg or buttocks - becoming smaller and more sophisticated.”
The team, which speak seven languages between them, enlist the help of Rufus the Bear to explain how the pump works with their youngest patients.
Gillian added: “We took on board the judging panel’s feedback from last year about making the application more detailed so threw everything at this year’s application.
"They came back this year and described our submission as outstanding so hopefully it is second time lucky for us.”
Judges noted the ethnically diverse caseload managed by the team and their high success in getting youngsters to use pumps compared to other areas in the UK.