Now my son, 8, can treat his diabetes himself

A MOTHER told today how the lives of her son and dozens of other children have been transformed by a pioneering diabetes self-help service.

Nurses from Queen Mary's Sidcup NHS trust and Bexley Care Trust train young patients to cope with their condition, providing support at home as well as in hospital.

Daniel Pitts, eight, from Crayford is among those who can now live normal lives thanks to the scheme.

His mother Belinda worried about how Daniel would cope when doctors diagnosed him with type 1 diabetes in January.

But Mrs Pitts, 43, said the diabetes team have "empowered" her son, who can now inject himself.

The mother-of-three said: "The diagnosis was a huge shock for us and I worried about everything from him slipping into a coma to how I would cope. The thought of injecting my child was awful but the nurses made it so easy for us.

"I know they didn't previously go out to the community and I would have hated that because we would have had to go to hospital. The nurses came round to our house which was so much better - they're brilliant and more like friends for Daniel. They've provided his care plan for him at school and are great at empowering children."

Managers took the decision to transform diabetes care two years ago. Services were removed from the hospital and integrated with acute services in the community. This means doctors can discharge children earlier from hospital enabling them to quickly become experts in their own care. Last week, Daniel managed to inject himself at school for the first time - with the support of his helpers but without his mother.

The former administration assistant said her son and the family had made great progress coping with his diabetes. She said: "I worried whether he could live a normal life, how I would cope, how Daniel would cope. But the right guidance put our worries aside."

It is the dedication of NHS teams such as this that the Evening Standard is highlighting through the London Making A Difference Awards, run by NHS London in with The King's Fund.

Evening Standard and these two organisations are also rewarding outstanding individual NHS staff with the NHS Champions awards.

Nominations for NHS Champions are now closed, but for more information on the London Making A Difference awards go to www.neilstewartassociates.com/sh245