Rank: Guest 
|
Posted By Richard Apps
Appologies if this thread has been on the forum before, i cant find anything that answers my question through a basic search.
Does anyone have experiance of drawing up a risk assessment for a lone worker recently diagnosed with diabetes?
The employee works alone at night in a residential care home, and is responsible for the care of those residents during the night.
many thans
Richard Apps
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By David Sinclair Richard, Much will depend on the individual concerned, the type of diabetes and the way in which he/she controls his/her condition. Try contacting the British Diabetic Association for further information. Their website link is below. Regards. David http://www.bda.uk.com/
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By Nigel Hammond
My daughter is type 1 diabetic. Also, I work in an organistation that runs care homes.
I suggest you write to the GP to establish the level of control. If the person is type 1 diabetic and they control their blood sugars well, strangely enough they may well have a 'hypo'. A consultant once said to me "you can't have good blood glucose control without a hypo".
The thing is with diabetes - if you let your blood glucose run high, you get long term complications. If you let them go to low you end up with a hypo (can mean unconsious siezures if not dealt with quickly). So you have to get the balance right. Some diabetics play it 'safe' in the short term and run high - which means they are storing up problems for the future. Some Diabetics can go into denial when they have a hypo - refusing to take a sugary drink - because they may not be thinking rationally when this happens - when thus happens they need a good friend or colleague to persuade them.
Therefore, I would think very carefully about continuing to allow this person to do lone working and being in charge of the welfare of others while lone working.
If the person is type 2, this can vary a great deal - from a very mild condition on tablets so is less likely to be a problem - but again you need to check this with the GP.
Look at the diabetes UK web site - this gives plenty of advice
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By Lisa Eldridge
Richard
I myself have diabetes as well as working in the care home industry.
I agree with what the others say regarding establishing the type of diabetes and the particular persons control. Although I have to point out that there is no such thing a mild diabetes.
You could refer the person to your local occupational health and see what they say.
With regards to the risk assessment you must consider things such as, storage for insulin (if necessary), somewhere for the person to keep his/her snacks, and the use of a cordless/mobile phone for any emergencies. Really a diabetic should be able to the same job as any other individual.
Lisa
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By Nigel Hammond
Lisa
Sorry, if I used the word 'mild' I don't know alot about type 2 diabetes. It's all relative I suppose.
My 6-year old daughter is on 2 injections a day and will soon move onto 4 and her blood sugars vary from 2 to 20 in a typical day. So when a type 2 diabetic says to me they had an extremely high blood test of 10 and they have to take tablets - it all sounds a lot milder to me.
Coming back to your comment that people with diabetes should be able to do any job the same as everyone else. Ideally yes, however I have two thoughts to consider:
1 There are employers that do not allow people with diabetes - such as the police and post office to drive.
2. Imagine you are a relative of a vulnerable person such as someone with mental health or severe learning disabilities that needs constant attention of a nurse or support worker. How would you feel if there was a risk of the nurse or support worker neglecting your relative while having a hypo?
I'm only a parent of someone with diabetes and I know a few adults with type 1 and 2. As someone with diabetes, maybe you find this offensive? Perhaps I am missing something. If so please fire back at me!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By Ken Taylor
This will need to be very person, job and workplace-related but the fact that your employee has only recently been diagnosed as sufering from diabetes may well mean that it is 'late onset' and less of a problem for the employee and the demands of the job when compared with the type 1 sufferer.
Perhaps there is someone in the residential care home that will be of assistance if needed? Would an emergency call system produce a fast enough response? Careful discussion with the employee, medical advisers, etc is obviously needed and there will be no 'one size fits all' answer to your question. The determining question in producing a suitable arrangement will be something to the effect of whether the employer has reasonably discharged the duty of care to the residents and treated the employee fairly - making any necessary reasonable adjustments.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By Rachael Palmer
A friend has recently been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (he's in his 40's. He works as a manager in a care home. Has been off work for approx two months so far and cannot go back until occupational health give the okay. Has been advised that he should work 9 to 5, in a home with less demanding residents. He used to work a variety of shifts including nights. Employers are currently looking at a suitable placement and will ease him back to work ( part time for a few weeks) when one is found.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By Richard Spencer
The first element in addressing this condition is acceptance of the fact that your physiology had changed for ever, at least until medical science provides a genetic remedy for the condition.
All people are susceptible to the condition, some more than others as they carry the recessive gene.
Self control and understanding of what this condition is often, particularly hard as people come to terms with it.
This is hard for most and if you are an active go-getter and not at all used to a regime of medication then much psychological subconscious trauma can result.
However, an understanding of the complicated process by which fuel (food) is converted to usable energy and how the body deals with surplus and those high kilojoule foods create peaks in the blood glucose level is a necessary step.
Not to treat this as a potential killer is not a good position to be in.
In an active life diabetes is not the end of life. However, understanding that it is a individual’s responsibility to care for the condition is paramount and will provide a good risk mitigation approach.
This being the case the strategies you adopt for the various environments is how this is approached.
A lone worker, if good control is achieved will decrease the risk of sustaining a low or high glucose condition.
Taking charge and having strategies is how this is dealt with.
Richard
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By Lisa Eldridge
Nigel
I understand that there are certain jobs that a diabetic cannot do - ie. fly a plane, be a police officer etc. However, despite what type of diabetes you have, it is the level of control that you have that is most important. My grandmother was a type 2 diabetic but her sugar levels were very high at times. As I am only in my twenties, the chances are that my low levels of insulin will eventually deplete and I will have to use insulin. So my point is it neds monitoring.
As this person is a newly diagnosed diabetic they will need time to adjust and to see how their levels are. However, the chances are that this person may have had diabetes for many years but just didn't know. Again I think this person should be referred to occupational health first before being allowed to work alone.
Does your daughter cope well?
Regards
Lisa
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By Nigel Hammond
Please excuse this long post - but I want you to know the reality of what diabetes can be like - so please read on. It's difficult to put the horror and shock in words but I'll have a go.
Despite very tight control of my daughter's condition, she had a horrific hypo this weekend in the middle of the night.
We woke-up to the sound of blood-curdling screams at 2:30 in the night. We rushed to her bedroom, the screaming carrying on, my wife trying to comfort her and hold her still. I did a blood test. She was 2.5 - she's often been lower than this without effect.
My 6-year-old beautiful daughter looked and sounded like something out of the exorcist or a wild animal. She had this glazed possessed stare - completely unaware of our presence and the blood-curdling screams carried on and on. She was kicking, tossing, turning, and shaking. I ran downstairs, got the hypostop (Liquid glucose) rubbed it on her gums- like you're supposed to.
Then she bit my finger, her teeth were sinking in tighter and tighter, now I was screaming as well! After a couple of minutes I managed to prize her jaw open with my other hand. I then rang the ambulance. After, about 5 minutes she started screaming 'help me', 'help me'.
I was just getting the glucagon injection kit ready which is an emergency syringe that you inject into muscle to make the liver release sugar into the bloodstream. However, after 10 minutes she was back to normal - sitting up, eating her kitkat and lucacade, like nothing had happened. The paramedics arrived, checked her over, considered taking her in but we decided she would be better off in bed with us under close supervision.
I am still shaken up by this experience. Most of our friends with type-one diabetic children have experienced these kinds of hypos. But it is a first sever night-time hypo for us in 3 years of her condition.
When my daughter is a grown-up, I can't ever imagine sleeping in a house on her own - let alone working a night shift at a care home in charge of vulnerable adults.
The paramedic was sympathetic, but said that he often has to get adults out of violent hypos and it's not a pretty sight.
My advice to you Richard, would be only to consider lone working for type 2 diabetics - and even then only those that are on tablets rather than insulin.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum.
You cannot reply to topics in this forum.
You cannot delete your posts in this forum.
You cannot edit your posts in this forum.
You cannot create polls in this forum.
You cannot vote in polls in this forum.