Cymru Wales

The SEREN programme, developed in Wales by members of the Children and Young People’s Wales Diabetes Network and funded by Welsh Government, has become the first paediatric diabetes education programme to receive accreditation from the Quality Institute for Self-Management Education and Training (QISMET), for its module SEREN at Diagnosis.

“Achieving accreditation means diabetes teams delivering this education, to newly-diagnosed children and their families, can be confident that they are delivering a quality education programme that meets nationally recognised standards,” says Claire Baker, the national SEREN Co-ordinator in Wales.

QISMET is a not-for-profit body that supports self-management providers to achieve the highest possible quality service for people living with long term health conditions. It provides certification against quality standards following a thorough application process.

The SEREN Team had to successfully complete an assessment process and provide evidence of achievement for different quality measures.

“We are delighted that SEREN at diagnosis has received QISMET accreditation and that it is the first paediatric programme to achieve this,” says Claire.

“It is really valuable to know that our programme meets all external standards for a high quality education programme. It will give our teams confidence that SEREN will deliver the outcomes that are required to support children and young people as they learn to self-manage their condition.

“The QISMET application process was a useful experience. It enabled the SEREN Team to assess the programme’s strengths and identify areas where we could improve to make it even better. In the long term, it will also help us as a Network to ensure that high standards are maintained across all of Wales.”

SEREN at diagnosis is age appropriate and split into the 3 educational key stages. The first was launched in 2016 and since then all children and young people diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in Wales have received the same quality of education. Additional group modules have now also been completed and include:

• SEREN Active: An interactive group session for young people to learn how to manage their diabetes during sports and activities. A parent session will be available soon
• SEREN Moving to year 7: A group education session for young people about to start in secondary school. A parent session will be available soon
• SEREN Pumps: A series of group sessions for young people and their families who are starting on insulin pump therapy
• SEREN Connect: A series of group education sessions delivered over a period of two years as part of the moving to adult services