Parents quit work for diabetic care

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Many parents of youngsters with diabetes have been forced to quit work or cut their hours in order to provide care, according to a report published.

Almost half (46%) of primary school pupils questioned by Diabetes UK said their mother or father had stopped working or cut their hours.

Type 1 diabetes usually develops in adolescence and youngsters rely on vital insulin jabs that must be given at certain times of the day.

Almost one in three (29%) secondary school pupils questioned also said a parent had reduced their hours or given up work.

A total of 661 children with Type 1 were questioned for the report, which also revealed that 65% of primary and 87% of secondary school pupils think school staff do not have enough training in diabetes.

If blood glucose levels fall too low, or get too high due to missed injections, people with Type 1 can fall into a coma and are at risk of death.

Douglas Smallwood, chief executive of Diabetes UK, said lessons must be learned from the case of Sam Linton, who died earlier this year following an asthma attack at school during which no teacher called 999.

Around 20,000 children under the age of 15 have Type 1 diabetes in the UK and an estimated 2,000 new cases are diagnosed each year.

The charity is calling for a legal duty to be placed on schools and health trusts to ensure all children with diabetes and long-term conditions receive proper support while taking part in a full school life.

It wants the Government's guide on managing medicines in schools to be published as soon as possible and for the schools inspectorate Ofsted to routinely check that clear medications policies and procedures are in place.