Virtually no local services for children outside Dublin
Children with Type 1 Diabetes outside Dublin unable to access vital diabetes therapy due to lack of local service
Recent information released by the HSE highlight current inadequacies in access to insulin pump therapy for children with Type 1 diabetes under 16 years of age.
Figures showed that of 217 children with Type 1 diabetes using insulin pump therapy, 210 attend Dublin hospitals, 5 attend Cork University Hospital and 2 attend Galway University Hospital.
It also showed that the parents of children who require insulin pump therapy are having to make the decision to switch their diabetes care from their local clinic to a Dublin clinic to avail of the therapy as other hospitals generally do not provide this therapy.
Deputy Ciaran Lynch TD said “what is disgraceful is that a high percentage of those children on insulin pump therapy in Dublin Hospitals are from outside the capital and are travelling long distances for their care. This causes unnecessary hardship on the whole family”
It is estimated that there are between 2,000 and 2,500 children with diabetes in Ireland
Most people who get Type 1 diabetes, get it in childhood and the worldwide incidence of Type 1 diabetes is rising by 2% annually. We are also seeing much younger children being diagnosed and research has shown they are at higher risk of developing complications in later life.
Glucose control is more difficult to control in children than in adults so access to new therapies and treatments that can help them achieve greater control is vital as they will reduce the risk of complications.
The Diabetes Community in Ireland is unanimous in its support of the model of care set out by the HSE in its Diabetes Expert Advisory Group (EAG) report for Type 1 Diabetes paediatric care in November 2008. The report recommends developing regional based centres of excellence providing the full range of diabetes services which will be linked to a national tertiary diabetes centre in Dublin. This model would provide an equitable and fair system to all children/adolescents with diabetes throughout the country and provide local diabetes expertise and local access to vital therapies for children with Type 1 diabetes.
Deputy Lynch continued “ while the Department of Health and Children has identified diabetes service development as a key priority, the HSE despite endorsing the EAG proposals, has dragged its heels in working towards the implementation of this model of care. The Local Paediatric Diabetes Service Implementation Groups necessary to move to this improved mode of care for children have not being set up in most areas by the HSE thus prolonging the present unequal delivery of care potentially putting the lives of our children at risk”
Anna Clarke of the Diabetes Federation of Ireland commented “This information simply highlights the current inadequacies that exist in current paediatric diabetes services. Clinics outside of Dublin simply require some local nurse resource to resolve this issue and enable children with Type 1 diabetes to avail of insulin pump therapy in their locality and avoid the unnecessary hardship imposed on the family.
The commitment of the HSE towards the implementation of its own Diabetes Expert Advisory Group recommendations, especially the setting up of local Paediatric and Adult Diabetes Service Implementation Groups, has being extremely poor and this failure will only prolong the present unequal delivery of diabetes care. At a recent meeting, the Diabetes Federation of Ireland recently highlighted these issues to the Minister for Health and Children”.