Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Minister, Deputy Harris, I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. As he will be aware, diabetes is one of the most challenging health problems in the 21st century. Just like the rest of the world, Ireland is experiencing sustained increases in the number of people with diabetes. Currently, there are more than 200,000 people with diabetes in Ireland. People with type 1 diabetes make up 10% of all people with diabetes. If not well managed, diabetes can lead to debilitating complications, including visual impairment and blindness, lower limb amputations, kidney failure and heart disease. As a result, the increasing prevalence of diabetes poses a major challenge to our health service, with increasing costs driven primarily by hospitalisation and treating associated complications. This is also evident in the increase in demand for diabetic care in our acute hospitals and our community healthcare organisations, including in the Deputy's area.

The diabetes service team at Sligo University Hospital is led by consultant endocrinologists and serves the populations of Sligo, Leitrim, south Donegal, north Roscommon and west Cavan. This adult diabetes service also includes an insulin pump service. Referrals are also received from Letterkenny University Hospital in this regard. In addition, there is a pregnancy diabetes service, inpatient ward-based consultation service, and an inpatient and outpatient podiatry service. There is a well-established integrated multidisciplinary team approach between both the hospital and the community, supported by specialist diabetic nurses and an advanced nurse practitioner as well as a full range of support staff. In addition to this, there is a paediatric diabetes specialist service that provides a regional insulin pump service for children across the north west. Both the adult and paediatric pump services have experienced considerable growth in referrals both from new patients commencing treatment as well as repatriation of patients from national tertiary centres. In addition, a full endocrinology service is provided, which includes dynamic endocrine function testing.

The HSE has advised that tender documents for the diabetic day unit at Sligo University Hospital have been finalised and are ready to issue to contractors. It is intended to proceed to construction in 2019, with the unit expected to be operational in 2020. The funding of all projects is subject to the availability of capital funding and the progress of other priorities. The Government is committed to the further development of services for people with diabetes and other chronic conditions.

Earlier this month, the Sláintecare Action Plan 2019 was published which will be a fundamental enabler in the delivery of the Sláintecare vision. As part of this action plan, a series of service design and delivery workshops will be held. These workshops will he focused on chronic disease management, including the management of diabetes.

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