Wales

The NHS Wales / Welsh Government Essential Services Group has approved the guidance for NHS Wales Organisations ‘Maintenance of Essential Paediatric Diabetes Services through the Covid-19 Pandemic‘. This guidance includes several recommendations that should be followed by NHS Wales health boards.

There are two main areas of guidance – services at diagnosis and existing services supporting families of children with diabetes. The existing services guidance include the following six key points

• Protection of the paediatric MDT, including consultant cover
• Continuation of specialist ‘on call’ phone advice where such services exist
• Continued open access to children’s assessments units
• Specialist members of the MDT should not be redeployed except as a last resort.
• Children and young people who are extremely vulnerable should be proactively safety netted
• Teams should use the Digibete App to communicate important information with families

The Wales Network thanks the Essential Services Group for this guidance and will be communicating it to all health boards. The Network is also looking at the future delivery of services in ‘phase 2’ of the pandemic, in partnership with the All Wales Diabetes Implementation Group.