Person-centred decision making
People using insulin pumps need to make their own deci- sions and be proactive in their diabetes management.This
Figure 2. Omnipod tubeless insulin pump and handset
includes regular blood glucose testing and reacting to the results with treatment decisions. As insulin pumps only use insulin analogues, there is no longer acting insulin available other than what is delivered by the person managing the insu- lin pump. Morrison and Weston (2013) highlighted that the precise delivery system of an insulin pump infuses insulin in an advanced physiological manner superior to multiple-dose injections (MDI). Observational studies show that using insu- lin pump therapy indicates less variability in blood glucose levels than MDI regimes.This also offers an opportunity for individuals to have less hypoglycaemia and improve their gly- caemic control (Weiss et al, 2015).
Pump technology is recommended as the treatment of choice following MDI for children, young people, and adults with type 1 diabetes (NICE, 2015a; 2015b). In addition, per- son-centred choice and effective education to support decision making in diabetes care to promote self-management is a key theme in both NICE guidances.This echoes and augments recommendations in both The King’s Fund publication on involving people in their own care (Foot et al, 2014) and the NICE quality standard on patient experience in adult NHS services (NICE, 2012), which identify the person as being in the centre of care decisions in the NHS.