# School Care Plan



## Tom1982 (Jul 14, 2022)

Hello all.

Just wondering if anyone has any tips for school care plan? Jo starts school in September and we’ve got a meeting at the school next week to sort all this out. No idea where to start.


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## Bronco Billy (Jul 14, 2022)

Hi Tom

This page should have the information you are looking for. https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-t...hools/ihp-a-childs-individual-healthcare-plan 

A good care plan is really worth investing time in as it can solve so many problems and prevent them arising in the first place. It is an agreement between you, the hospital team and the school. The hospital team will probably be willing to write it either for you or in collaboration with you. Use the meeting next week to talk about what your child needs from them and how they can support her. Schools very rarely have a pupil with diabetes, so will appreciate all the input you can give.


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## Lily123 (Jul 14, 2022)

Can’t really help with the care plan stuff, my parents dealt with mine for primary and the most recent for secondary.

Experience in schools can vary greatly - my primary school was understanding and the school nurse at secondary - her mum is T1 so she understands. But some schools will not be as understanding. 

Tagging a few parents of T1s @Sally71 @Thebearcametoo


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## Sally71 (Jul 14, 2022)

Our DSN did the very first one and then I just amended it myself when necessary and got her to sign it.  It is instructions to the school for how you want your daughter’s diabetes to be managed.  It should include the following:

How to recognise and test/treat a hypo
How to recognise high blood sugar and how to deal with it (how high do you comfortably want them to let her go before they start doing corrections and checking for ketones)
Lunch time procedure - carb count and insulin, will she be allowed to queue jump because once she’s had her insulin she needs to eat straight away
If she’s on a pump you will need to add a section on what to do if the cannula falls off or if they suspect it might not be working (can they change it or do they need to call you)
Emergency phone numbers for you and hospital team

You may also want to add step by step instructions on how to use her testing equipment
It can also be amended later as different situations arise, over the years I added sections for how to deal with swimming lessons, party food, residential trips etc, and then the most recent one was pared right back to basics because she can handle most things on her own now!

Your DSN should be able to help you in the first instance, ask if they can let you see another one which you can use as an example.  My DSN emailed me one which I was able to edit to suit my daughter and then print out with the NHS header still on!! Made it look much more official 

Also, when you go and see them do not move until you’re sure that they understand that hypos are potentially very dangerous, and if the lunch procedure is not done correctly she could end up very ill, and that if they suspect low blood sugar they need to deal with it NOW not at the end of the lesson.  Some people seem to think that it’s all a big fuss about nothing so be absolutely sure that they understand that it isn’t !  You don’t necessarily need a one to one helper, better to make sure that at least two people know what to do in case one isn’t there one day.


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## Tom1982 (Jul 16, 2022)

Should these DNS (that the right word?) be full time? Don’t ever seem to be able to get hold of ours and when we do she isn’t any help.


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## Lily123 (Jul 16, 2022)

My hospitals children's outpatients is 8am-10pm Mon-Fri outside of those hours your put through to the paediatric ward. DSNs are always going to be very busy. How long have you been waiting for a response from them?


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## Sally71 (Jul 17, 2022)

DSNs are full time but they are also extremely busy!  Can you email her? Ours almost never answers the phone, presumably because she’s busy doing nursey things around the hospital and having consultations with patients and not sitting behind a desk all the time, but if I email her I usually get a reply within a day or two.  We hardly ever need her now, but during the first few months after diagnosis we saw her a lot and email was definitely the easiest way to make contact, then if we needed help that couldn’t easily be sorted by email or phone she’d make an appointment for us to come into the hospital.  That was pre-covid of course, but our clinics are now pretty much back to normal.


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## helli (Jul 17, 2022)

My DSN is definitely not full time - I think she works 3 days a week.
However, she has given me her email address and, unless she is on holiday, she will respond within a couple of days. Sometimes, she suggests a phone call or just tells me what I need via email.
I do not call her in an emergency.


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