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Type 1 You could lose your CGM and Pump

S

SalRead1

Active Member
Messages
35
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Did you know that if you have to go into a care or nursing home you will have your CGM and insulin pump taken away from you because their staff don’t have the training to handle either of these? Even if you stay at home and have a District Nurse visit you, the chances of retaining your CGM/pump are still slim apparently. I find this shocking because it’s our health that will suffer and therefore cost the NHS more money. How do we get more care staff trained? Surely a CGM and pump is easier for them to manage than multiple daily injections?
 
Do you have a link for this information please? There was 3 people in my dads care home with a CGM, & I know one of those also had a pump
 
lovinglife said:
Do you have a link for this information please? There was 3 people in my dads care home with a CGM, & I know one of those also had a pump
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Oddly,

From what I know. (In my area with the GP surgery. )
They are more likely to favour CGMs for T1s over fingerprick testing?
Though I believe testing is still an integral part of the regime for a few reasons like lag recovering from lows & possibility of sensor error. Some DSNs feel there is “no such animal.”

My mate’s kid had a failed Dexcom showing a flatline hypo for 8 hours where the meter said the kid was in the 20s? The kid’s team were adamant it wasn’t the sensor.. & to keep treating the “hypo???”
 
Jaylee said:
Hi,

Where did you hear this?
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I was at a research meeting last week and 2 people brought it up. One was the researcher and the other is a member of various diabetes forums. The researcher had visited care homes and asked staff there about diabetic residents and was told none had CGMs or pumps any longer. The other person is apparently actively campaigning for a change in this discrimination.
 
lovinglife said:
Do you have a link for this information please? There was 3 people in my dads care home with a CGM, & I know one of those also had a pump
Click to expand...

Sorry, I don’t have a link, it’s something that was discussed at a research meeting last week. Perhaps where you live the care home staff managers have a more pragmatic and sensitive approach to this treatment? I’m delighted to hear that 3 people in your dad’s care home still have CGMs and at least one has a pump.
 
 
There’s clearly a lot of training needed by people dealing with diabetics. I remember doing a
st Aid course and the trainer saying imagine you found (me) lying unconscious in town and you found something in my bag to say I was a diabetic, what would you do? The others all said give (me) an insulin injection. Hmm.
 
Sadly my dad passed 6 years ago so don’t know the situation now. The care home he was in gave him amazing care with his diabetes (he was T2 on insulin but had dementia & lewys body syndrome so managing his diabetes himself was impossible) They were very knowledgeable but he was in a nursing home so there was always a nurse on duty who did all the diabetic residents care
 
Sorry for your loss @lovinglife but very glad to hear that the home was able to cope with an insulin dependent diabetic with dementia. I can see a pump might be tricky (don't want the dementia patient dialling up random quantities of insulin) though I believe you can set up a security pin which would get round that. (I imagine they have the same issue with young children.)

I suspect that this might just vary by care home as to whether they have anyone competent to handle the dosing???
 
EllieM said:
I suspect that this might just vary by care home as to whether they have anyone competent to handle the dosing???
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From what I’ve personally come to understand.
Some care homes don’t even allow married couples to share a room??
 
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