Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I bring to the attention of the House concerns over the staffing issues that will affect the diabetes clinic service in Midland Regional Hospital, Mullingar. Several constituents have contacted me this week over concerns that the service could cease at the end of the month. Patients were told when attending this week that there is uncertainty about the future of the service, and none of those who attended this week was issued with a future appointment. This problem has festered since the retirement of the dedicated diabetes nurse more than 18 months ago. I understand she even deferred a decision on her retirement in the hope that the post could have been backfilled before she retired.

Unfortunately, nothing happened, and since then the service has been dependent on other nurses standing in and assisting the consultant. As a consequence, dates for future appointments started to be pushed out. First it was three months and it then became four months. For those who attended this week, it was their first appointment in more than nine months, and now they face the prospect of no future appointments. This is very difficult for people and especially parents who are trying to manage medication and treatment. It simply cannot be allowed to continue. In the event that the service is not fully restored, the only option for the many service users will be to attend Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin, which is simply unimaginable.

See this speech in context