Living with diabetes from a carer’s perspective
We asked
We are interested in the lives and experiences of every resident in Lancashire and South Cumbria and have recently been inviting local residents to tell their stories about their experiences – good and not so good – of NHS services in their area. These are then shared with our quality committee.
When we asked
We spoke with a lady in late 2022 and recorded her experience in her own words. This was shared with the ICB’s quality committee in February 2023.
You said
This lady’s husband has type 1 diabetes which wasn’t being managed effectively by his diabetes team. There were constant disagreements between this lady and the diabetes team looking after her husband as he would tell them he was ok when this lady knew he wasn’t. The diabetes team were not interested in listening to this lady, her expert knowledge of her husband’s condition, and the challenges being faced in the family due to this man’s uncontrolled diabetes. The couple found anomalies in treatment between different teams. This man is now being managed by a diabetes team in a different area who now appear to have his diabetes under control.
We acted
There were key actions taken:
- Psychological support for people and their families with long term conditions
- Workforce training on communication both in acute and primary care
- Meeting with the diabetic network to look at priorities
- Workshop will be organised to look at population health need to look at this at place level
- Project already underway in Cumbria on diabetic care this will be extended
- Digital solutions are needed as well to support people