Children & Young People's Wales Diabetes Network highlights progress despite “huge challenge” of working through pandemic
20/07/2021
The Children & Young People’s Wales Diabetes Network (& Brecon Group) has published its fifth Annual Report, covering the year 2020 and the disruption to services caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.
“As a Network we have learned a lot during this pandemic,” says Dr Davida Hawkes, Network Chair and Clinical Lead.
“We have captured some of that learning in this year’s annual report, as teams have seen rapid changes in the delivery of services.
“We have seen especially how important it is to keep sharing the messages about the symptoms of diabetes to ensure children and young people are diagnosed safely and return to normal activities quickly. At a time when the NHS was under incredible stress, teams across Wales have worked hard to protect and care for families living with Type 1 diabetes.”
The pandemic affected plans for the Network to celebrate its fifth Anniversary and the Annual Report has a special section reviewing the first five years of the Network.
“Despite the changes enforced on us, there are some great things to report about 2020,” says Davida.
“For example we saw the launch of How to Manage a Mammoth, a new psychology resource for families. Also, our SEREN Group have achieved an important first for paediatric structured education and have delivered excellent new resources to teams.”
As in previous years, the annual report includes benchmarking audit data from the most recent National Paediatric Diabetes Audit (NPDA). This includes performance indicators and outcomes, and access to insulin pumps.
The Report is available to read online in Welsh and English (opens PDFs).
To request a printed copy please email Jon Matthias, Network Manager