Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate that offer of a meeting and, undoubtedly, that will be taken up. I also gave the Minister a letter from Grainne McCann, the manager of Sligo University Hospital, in response to a young woman of 18 years who has been recommended to use the insulin pump. Her letter stated:

Unfortunately, we do not have the resources to facilitate commencement of the pump therapy at this time. In order to do so, the person involved will need to attend a specific programme and have follow-up support by a nurse specialist dietician in order to safely manage the patients on insulin pumps. We have a number of patients awaiting this programme and we are trying to identify funding streams for this service requirement.

The issue is that the specialist diabetic nurse is not in place. The diabetic nurse is there and still works in the hospital but was seconded away from service to another part of the hospital and was not replaced. This has gone on for almost two years now. I understand that, when talking about the national children's hospital, it is a situation that involves huge money. However, this situation in Sligo is not a big one to resolve, which is why I and these patients are so frustrated. It takes so little to solve it, yet it seems to be impossible.

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