Planning your early care

Information for the public

It is important to start treating type 1 diabetes straight away. You may need to go to a specialist centre for this.

Your diabetes care team will work with you to agree a plan for your care as soon as you are diagnosed (or as soon as you are well enough, if you need urgent treatment). This is known as your early care plan.

Your care team will ask you about your medical history and general health, your lifestyle and home life, and any family history of diabetes or heart problems. You will also have a general health check, which includes looking for possible risk factors for cardiovascular disease, because these can be treated to lower your risk. Your eyes and feet will be checked.

Your care team should give you information about treatments for diabetes, including:

how to inject insulin
different types of insulin treatment
how to check your blood glucose
how to recognise and avoid or manage hypos (hypoglycaemia – low blood sugar levels).

Your care team should ask you about any cultural preferences, because this may affect the type of treatment you choose.

Your family members or carers should also be given information, if you agree, and you may want to involve them in agreeing your early care plan and in other decisions about treatment and care.

Once your early care plan has been agreed, you will have the chance to look at it again with your care team during the first few weeks, to see how it is working and to make any changes that are needed.