Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: The Birmingham Children’s Hospital (BCH) Diabetes Team developed an award-winning Virtual Schools Training Package (VSTP) in response to COVID-19. By 2021, the VSTP facilitated a significant increase in school staff training while drastically reducing training required from healthcare professionals (HCPs). Subsequently, the time saved enabled us to expand support for children and young people (CYP) with type 1 diabetes, notably enhancing their access to continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) through in-person training. Building on this success, a Quality Improvement Initiative was launched in November 2022, aiming to expedite the adoption of Hybrid Closed Loop (HCL) Systems via a virtual hybrid model.

Objective: Evaluate the impact of time savings from the VSTP on the accessibility of CSII and HCL Systems.

Methodology: A retrospective analysis was conducted using BCH School Competency databases, diabetes team records, National Paediatric Diabetes Audit (NPDA) results, and CSII/HCL databases at BCH from 2019 to 2024. The analysis focused on VSTP efficacy and efficient use of saved time.

Results: Compared to 2019/20, the VSTP maintained a ~30% increase in competent school staff from 2021-2024. Notably, HCPs saved 160 hours annually post-VSTP setup. Time saved modestly increased in-person CSII onboarding capacity in 2020/21 and 2021/22. Developing the virtual hybrid model in 2022/2023 increased onboarding capacity three-fold in 2023/24. Cumulatively, 78% were using HCL by 2024.

Conclusion: The VSTP saves significant time and increases the number of competent school staff. Leveraging time savings for hybrid virtual training models yields transformative benefits, significantly enhancing access to HCL therapy.