Royal United Hospitals Bath launches diabetes app for kids

The Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust (RUH) has launched a new app to help children manage Type 1 diabetes.

The MyLife app is able to calculate the precise dose of insulin needed for each user by considering both blood glucose measurements and planned food and drink intake. Not only is the solution easy to use but it can help reduce the likelihood of any potential complications by taking away some of the guesswork over insulin dosage.

Lynn Diskin, consultant paediatrician at the trust, said: “The best thing about the app is how easy it is for young people and their families. Being diagnosed with lifelong diabetes is hard enough, so being able to use the app to manage insulin calculations is fantastic.

“We have had really positive feedback, and teenagers especially tell us that they really like that everything is all in one place on their phone. Of course, the app isn’t just for children – they can go on to use it in adulthood too.

To generate their recommended insulin dose, children need to check their blood sugar as they would normally and add the result to the app, along with their planned carbohydrate intake.

Created by diabetes specialists Ypsomed, the app is now being used by around 170 RUH patients. The team at the trust were also able to source funding from RUH charity, The Forever Friends Appeal, to buy mobile phones for disadvantaged families so they could access the app.

Continued Diskin: “Longer-term we expect to see a beneficial impact on rates of complications, especially for our patients who use sensors to check their blood glucose levels. The app means that they can more accurately calculate the insulin they need.

“The app automatically updates our records too – we can review our patients’ data and make suggestions around management.”

The Royal United Hospitals Bath trust was recently included in the second wave of Digital Aspirant funding. It will receive seed funding of £250,000 to develop its digital strategies and will be encouraged to become a Digital Aspirant when it can confidently use technology as a key element of its transformation plans.