Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

We all agree diabetes should be community managed. The difficulty in Cork is that diabetes is not managed at all, either in the community or the hospital. If we were to apply best practice in this area, we would have three nurse specialists, a committed consultant, a specialist dietician and a special area to which patients could come to have prolonged consultation on a frequent basis.

There were approximately 40 mothers with children from as young as 18 months up to 15 years of age outside Cork University Hospital this morning. In ideal circumstances, these people would probably tut-tut at anyone making a protest. However, the mothers have been driven to the point where they had to bring their children, who were being monitored, to the protest to highlight this issue. This is despite the fact the issue had already been highlighted in 2002 in a report on diabetes nationally in which Cork was earmarked as a blackspot with regard to the provision of treatment for type 1 diabetes, which affects children.

When a child is diagnosed in Cork, the parent is given a syringe and an orange and told to go home, to practise and that eventually they will get it right. The issue is more serious when children are involved, as the Minister knows, and there it is necessary to ensure a regular and constant balance with regard to diet, insulin injections and the energy children expend.

When things begin to go wrong for such children and their mothers telephone the nurse at Cork University Hospital, whether it is late in the evening or during the day, they will probably get an answering machine because the nurse works just two and a half days per week. They are lucky to get a call back the following week. There are parents in Cork who take their children out of the system there and bring them to Temple Street Hospital in Dublin, where there is a 24 hour call service and nurses bring their telephones with them to give the advice that is necessary.

Everyone agrees it should be a nurse-led service but hoping and wishing the system will be better is no longer good enough. The Minister knows the position and what needs to be put in place. The notion that she has instructed that 100 consultants be appointed is of no benefit to mothers in Cork given they are not certain one of the consultants will be available to deal with their children. Wishing and hoping for it is not good enough. What will the Minister do about it?

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