Life-changing innovation at care home

A life-changing device is being used at a care home in Faversham to help a resident at the home control her diabetes.

The Freestyle Libre 2 device, which has been used at the home for two months, is part of a pilot scheme to improve diabetes and lifestyle freedoms for people living with Type 1 diabetes.

The staff at the Lady Dane Farmhouse home, which is run by local charity Strode Park Foundation, have been working with the resident to stabilise her blood sugar levels.

Registered Manager, Leanne Anslow said: “This lady came to us last year following a hospital stay for Covid-19 and another care home couldn’t meet her needs, so she came here to us. We did everything possible to stabilise her blood sugar levels and worked with a number of professionals to get her the best outcome.”

The Freestyle Libre 2 is a small device which is fitted to the arm which last for 14 days at a time and is scanned up to eight times a day. This innovative device allows care staff to use a scanning device to take up-to-date, live readings of blood sugar levels and take immediate action where needed.

Leanne added: “For this lady, this is particularly ground-breaking as she is very small, slight and frail; it means she no longer has to have her finger pricked serval times a day which caused a lot of distress on top of the insulin injections. This allows the district nurses to do the same and the live data is then shared digitally with specialists and the hospital to ensure the most appropriate treatment is sought at the earliest opportunity.

“It’s so innovative and important for the individual and simple and straight forward for staff to use which means more time to offer good quality care can be spent with the resident and allowing her more freedoms and dignity in her life.”

The device is being piloted for eligible people on the NHS as part of a six-month trial.