Nearly all people in Grampian who have recently been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes will be supported by their secondary care team. If they are younger than 16 this will be at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital. For adults from age 16, most will attend the rapid access diabetes clinic on ward 406 in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary or Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin when initially diagnosed. Here you will be talked through many of the steps that you will need to go through to help you become comfortable and confident at managing your diabetes on a day to day basis.
At the start of your diagnosis, you will receive a lot of information and there are many ways for you to learn about diabetes. You will be given written information on the day but below is outlined what we hope you will learn and some links to support this.
At your first appointment we will help you to:
- Understand you have been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, and what this is.
- Know how and when to blood glucose monitor, and understand blood glucose (BG) targets
- Know how and when to check blood ketones
- Be able to administer insulin
- Understand the role of rapid acting insulin and its’ relationship with food to enjoy a normal healthy diet.
- Understand what a hypo is and how to treat it
As you gain confidence with you diabetes you should also
- Know how to access your own diabetes health records
- Know what to expect from the diabetes team and what the next steps are.
- Most people follow the Grampian STEP programme but your team will help let you know your specific follow up plans.
- Be aware of the 15 point check that all people with diabetes should expect from their care
- Know where to find contact details of members of your team
- Be aware of specific situations that may be relevant to you with your diagnosis of diabetes eg driving, pregnancy planning and work