In its State of the Nation report, the diabetes charity found that fourout of five children are failing to meet blood glucose targets. Thisincreases the chance of them becoming blind, having strokes andsuffering kidney diseases in later life.
Guidelines from the Royal College of Nursing say there should be no morethan 70 children to each nurse. However, the report found nurses in someNHS trusts are struggling with caseloads of up to 300.
Libby Dowling, care adviser at Diabetes UK, said: "We're hearing a lotabout specific posts being cut. Others are being changed so that a nursewho used to specialise in diabetes also has to look after children withother conditions. And others are being pulled into acute wards."
Nursing posts were being replaced with lower grade positions without therequired levels of expertise, she added.
The report also found almost a third of young people surveyed who wantedpsychological support failed to get it. And only a quarter of childrenand young people were aware of structured education or self-managementcourses. These are crucial to helping sufferers take control of thecondition.
Dowling said children with diabetes often felt different to others dueto injections they had to take at school, thinking differently aboutfood, embarrassment from fainting spells that could result from lowblood sugar, and regular trips to hospital.
"It's vital they have professional support, so they learn to live withit rather than around it. When they start to accept it, it becomes partof their life and they are able to control it," she said.
However, she explained that pressure on nurses meant they concentratedon urgent cases rather than increasing awareness of self-careprogrammes.
The pressure also cut down on time to visit schools to help them supportdiabetic pupils, she said.
In a survey of young people conducted as part of the report, bettercommunication between specialist services and schools came top of theimprovements respondents wanted to see.
The survey also showed that, despite the low numbers of young peopleachieving the correct blood sugar levels, 77 per cent felt confidentthey were managing the condition effectively.
- www.diabetes.org.uk.
