Good practice recommendations on paediatric training programmes for health care professionals in the EU.

in Pediatric Diabetes (2012), 13(16), 29-38

Part of the SWEET Project: EU (European Union), Better Control in Paediatric and Adolescent Diabetes: Working to Create Centres of Reference, was specifically to examine the training of health care ... [more ▼]

Part of the SWEET Project: EU (European Union), Better Control in Paediatric and Adolescent Diabetes: Working to Create Centres of Reference, was specifically to examine the training of health care professionals (HCPs) across the EU. Several types of information were collected during 2009, and these included a literature search, workshops of the SWEET members, examination of the data collected by the Hvidøre Study Group and the Diabetes Attitudes, Wishes, and Needs (DAWN) Youth initiative, and a questionnaire distributed to SWEET members and professional colleagues who cared for children and young people (CYP) with diabetes. It was clear from the information collected that there was no European or global consensus either on a curriculum for the training of the paediatric diabetes multidisciplinary team (MDT) or individual professions in paediatric diabetes. A minority of countries had well-established training but, for the majority, there was little standardisation or accreditation. Moreover, most countries did not have available courses for training the diabetes MDT and training was not mandatory. Of the courses that were available more were accredited for doctors and nurses but fewer for the other professions. As a consequence, the majority of HCP posts in paediatric diabetes do not demand prior experience in the specialty. Standardised accredited training and continuous professional development (CPD) opportunities are severely limited. The SWEET Project supports a standardised, accredited approach to training and CPD of the MDT and for individual professions. As a consequence, a curriculum for the training of the MDT was developed, and this is now ready for implementation. [less ▲]

Heterogeneity in the systems of pediatric diabetes care across the European Union

in Pediatric Diabetes (2012), 13(SUPPL. 16), 5-14

Background: It is known that the systems of pediatric diabetes care differ across the member states of the European Union (EU). The aim of this project was to characterize some of the main differences ... [more ▼]

Background: It is known that the systems of pediatric diabetes care differ across the member states of the European Union (EU). The aim of this project was to characterize some of the main differences among the national systems. Methods: Data were collected using two questionnaires. The first one was distributed among leading centers of pediatric diabetes (one per country) with the aim of establishing an overview of the systems, national policies, quality control (QC) and financing of pediatric diabetes care. Responses were received from all 27 EU countries. The second questionnaire was widely disseminated among all 354 International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes members with a domicile in an EU country; it included questions related to individual pediatric diabetes centers. A total of 108 datasets were collected and processed from healthcare professionals who were treating more than 29000 children and adolescents with diabetes. Data on the reimbursement policies were verified by representatives of the pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Results: The collected data reflect the situation in 2009. There was a notable heterogeneity among the systems for provision of pediatric diabetes care across the EU. Only 20/27 EU countries had a pediatric diabetes register. Nineteen countries had officially recognized centers for pediatric diabetes, but only nine of them had defined criteria for becoming such a center. A system for QC of pediatric diabetes at the national level was reported in 7/26 countries. Reimbursement for treatment varied significantly across the EU, potentially causing inequalities in access to modern technologies. Conclusions: The collected data help develop strategies toward improving equity and access to modern pediatric diabetes care across Europe. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S. [less ▲]