Sense Scotland and Women and Children's Directorate, NHS Greater Glasgow.

Developed to bridge the gap between health and social care, these training packs are designed to provide social care support staff with the underpinning knowledge and practical skills they need to support a person with a specific health care need. Each of the packs can be used as stand-along training, or together as a comprehensive training course. 

General Learning Outcomes

On completion of the training, you should be able to:
• understand what diabetes mellitus is and describe the main types
• understand how diabetes mellitus is usually diagnosed
• describe the different ways in which diabetes mellitus is controlled
• understand what insulin is and describe the effect it has on the body
• know what is meant by ‘blood sugar level’ and explain how and why this needs
to be monitored
• describe the signs and symptoms of both hypoglycaemia and hyperglycaemia,
and the actions that need to be taken if these arise.

Specific Learning Outcomes

On completion of the training, you should be able to:
• describe the type of diabetes the person has
• know how to monitor their blood sugar level
• administer insulin
• identify the person’s signs and symptoms of both hypoglycaemia and
hyperglycaemia and know what actions to take
• know when to call for medical support
• describe the process of recording relevant information in the person’s file.

These flexible training packs provide basic knowledge and understanding of a specific health care need. This will enable staff to use the knowledge to gain an understanding of the needs of individual service users, and to gain the confidence and competence to support the individual's health care, respond in an emergency situation and identify when and how to seek medical assistance. Each pack also provides guidance to teach staff to record and report health care information in accordance with legal, registration and organisational requirements. 

Vital information for: staff with a supervisory responsibility for those providing direct care, as well as patient carers and non-nursing carers such as support workers; and organisations providings support to children and adults living in the community, who require ongoing support to meet their health care needs.