Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise the issue of paediatric patients in Cork University Hospital, CUH. An issue in respect of type 1 diabetes and the lack of provision of insulin pumps in particular is causing concern for parents. Many parents to whom I have spoken have been calling for additional staffing and resources for several years. This has been an issue for quite some time. Many of the issues relate to employment and the inability to appoint a consultant and nurses in that space. That has proven difficult in recent years. Many children whose parents I have spoken to have received initial appointments. The parents praise the CUH staff and the level of service they have received up to now but, unfortunately, after the initial consultation there is an issue in respect of insulin pumps in particular. Many parents to whom I have spoken have been waiting more than a year for those new pumps to be approved and for people to be trained in their use. The delays are occurring both in CUH and in training the parents and families.

Obviously, the great benefit of the pump therapy is that it reduces people's reliance on having to give themselves injections, as they may have to do repeatedly throughout the day. It is a much better process than the older and outdated one. I am aware of a four-year-old boy who is due to start school in September. His school and his special needs assistant, SNA, in particular have been great. They were ready to be trained to help him with his injections or to do the injections for him while he is at school but, unfortunately, at the last minute CUH withdrew the potential for training those school staff members to make sure that young child can self-medicate. Obviously, that is a specific circumstance, but it is indicative of the wider problem in respect of staffing and training.

I understand there is a severe shortage of consultants in the field. CUH currently has one whole-time equivalent and two diabetes nurses, with a further two to be hired. We are still waiting for them to start. Much of the correspondence I have received states that commencement will happen shortly but many of these families have been waiting two or three years and the commencement cannot come quickly enough. The consultant who is in place in CUH currently has between 400 and 500 patients under his care. He has issued guidance notes stating that, in theory, a consultant should only have 150 paediatric patients under his or her care. Services at CUH are under severe pressure. Several children on pump therapy are awaiting new pumps. Many of the older pumps, or the warranties thereof, have expired. There are delays in issuing new pumps and getting people the relevant training for the new pumps so that they can carry over. They have had to revert to the injection model, which is not ideal.

Looking at it from the outside in, the problems in respect of vacancies and employment in the HSE seem to be catching up with us in this field. Does the Minister of State have any update in respect of the commencement of those much-needed staff?

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