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Diabetes at the RCH

Diabetes newsletter

  • March 2021: RCH diabetes newsletter 1: 

    March 2021 Newsletter 

    February 2021: Blood glucose record books

    Currently we do not have a supply of blood glucose record books to give to families. See below link for an online/printable record book. 

    BGL record book 

    December 2020: Tandem T-Slim X2 insulin pump temporary suspension

    There is an Australian wide temporary suspension of AMSL Tandem T-Slim insulin pump sales. All existing patients using the T-Slim X2 pump can safely continue to do so, and are still fully covered by warranty with consumables available as per usual.  Patients who are using the T-Slim X2 insulin pump are still able to update their pump to the latest software. Click here for more information.

    From 1 July, 2020 Optisulin is the new name for Lantus insulin 

    Information on name change from Lantus (insulin glargine) to Optisulin (insulin glargine)

    There will be a change over period from 1 January, 2020 until the 30 June, 2020 where Lantus is still available. From 1 July, 2020 Lantus will be de-listed from the PBS and Optisulin will be prescribed by your endocrinologist in its place.   

    Federal Government Subsidy For Continuous Glucose Monitoring 

    On April 1 2017 the Federal Government announced that continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) would be fully subsidised for many children and young adults up to 21 years of age ( Press Release). There is specific criteria for the subsidy to apply ( Criteria), and many of our patients are  eligible. 

    The RCH has received a lot of interest in CGM from our families. In order to accommodate requests for CGM we have been able to employ an extra nurse to assist with the CGM starts.  

    • All CGM starts will be done in order of initial expression of interest or request.
    • CGM starts will happen through a day admission via the Day Medical Unit.
    • Most children will share their CGM start with another child. Children are matched to CGM device, insulin system and age (where possible).
    • Prior to an admission date for CGM, RCH sends the NDSS form to Canberra for processing. The time between faxing the NDSS for an approval can be up to 10 days.
    • NDSS then alerts the family and treating team to the approval. The device will then be sent by the supplier to the RCH. This can take up to two weeks from the time of approval.
    • When the device has arrived the RCH contacts the relevant family regarding a suitable time for the CGM start here at the RCH. We cannot advise a time until the device has already arrived because we have already had to delay some planned admissions as the device has not arrived in time.

    At this time we have been able to decrease our waitlist so that there is only a few weeks between applying for a CGM and your admission. If you have any questions about the timeframe please contact your diabetes nurse educator.  

    If you are unsure about what CGM is or does, please review the section of CGM on the type 1 diabetes page and watch at the webinars about CGM on the webinars page .

    If you would like to apply for a CGM and have a NDSS eligibility form, please email us via the details on our contact us page.

    Continuous Glucose Monitoring Initiative: FreeStyle Libre added and eligibility criteria streamlined from 1 March 2020 (Press Release)

    Privacy statement for diabetes technology

    Important information regarding the Terms and Conditions of your cloud based data.

    The RCH takes your private information very seriously. It is important when some technology is agreed as a treatment option, you have read and understood the relevant company’s terms and conditions of use.

    Almost all current diabetes technologies such as insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors rely on cloud based technology to allow both the user, and the treating team to view the data. The ability to review this data, and share it with the treating team is vital to managing diabetes. It is very important that you are aware of how these companies manage your data. When you register to use the uploading or recording facility of the device, the company will ask you to agree to a series of terms and conditions. Within these terms and conditions are privacy statements about how the companies may use the data. For some systems, the RCH is required to agree on behalf of a user who is already registered. This is so we can see the data to provide clinical advice, but this does override the terms agreed to by the user at initial registration.

    There is no suggestion that any data is or has been used inappropriately, but we strongly recommend that families are aware of what is being agreed to by accepting terms and conditions.