Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Before I start to read the official reply, as someone who was involved in the campaign to have paediatric diabetes services brought to the south, I thank the Senator for raising this issue. A number of years ago, they were very poor and most families preferred to deal with Crumlin or Temple Street hospitals in Dublin in respect of their children.

They said that the best thing about the services there was the ready access to expertise through a specialist nurse who was at the end of a telephone line. That was the target we set for ourselves in the context of the service to be delivered in the south.

I thank the Senator for raising this important matter and for giving me the opportunity to inform the House of the significantly improved services which are now provided to paediatric diabetic patients in Cork. The unprecedented evolution of best practice and new models and standards of care for children with diabetes together with the reconfiguration of services in Cork and Kerry have led to significant enhancement in the delivery of services in recent years.

In line with the national paediatric and national diabetes clinical programmes, a subgroup was established in 2011 to examine the delivery of diabetes care in Ireland to all children under 16 years of age. In early 2012 a national clinical lead in paediatric diabetes, Dr. Stephen O'Riordan, based in Cork University Hospital, CUH, was appointed to implement improved access to diabetic care and to implement new models of care for diabetic services. The paediatric diabetes service resource is now concentrated in CUH and has been reconfigured to allow for the introduction of the insulin pump service in the region. While my welcome for this and that of Senator O'Donovan may be somewhat parochial, this development is, nevertheless, very important. The hospital provides all forms of diabetes care and insulin pump starts for children under five years which is a huge advance. This model of care offers greater access to a dedicated paediatric diabetes service delivered by a paediatric diabetes team. The service is led by two consultant paediatric endocrinologists and is supported by a dedicated diabetes specialist nurse and by a paediatric diabetes dietician. Having listened to the mothers of diabetic children, I know that all of these things are essential. I am very proud to say that Cork is spear-heading developments in paediatric diabetes and the development of the pump school service in the community has achieved national recognition by winning a health literacy award in 2014 and a health innovation award in 2013. The services in Cork are currently being assessed by Sweet.EU, a major EU initiative in the field of diabetes prevention, and are working towards being accredited as a recognised centre of excellence in Europe.

The concentration of diabetes services in CUH is in line with the Government's policy on the reorganisation of hospital services. The framework for smaller hospitals articulates the Government's commitment to securing and further developing the role of smaller hospitals in the delivery of significant volumes of less complex care. The framework outlines the need for smaller hospitals and larger hospitals to operate together as a single hospital group. In this instance, the South/South West Hospitals Group has ensured that the care of complex paediatric diabetic patients is centralised in CUH. Children who need this specialist treatment are provided with a safe and high-quality service in the most appropriate setting. While the diabetes clinics have transferred from Bantry General Hospital to CUH, I have been assured that the more straightforward paediatric clinics will continue to operate in Bantry as before. Indeed, I understand that hospital management is actively engaged in developing this service.

To conclude, I would like to assure the House that the movement of paediatric diabetes services to CUH should not be seen as a threat to Bantry General Hospital but as an opportunity to provide the children of Cork with the best service possible in the right setting. The role of Bantry General Hospital will not diminish but will be developed as appropriate in the context of the wider needs of the South/South West Hospitals Group. I hope this is of some comfort to Senator O'Donovan. The paediatric clinics will continue in Bantry General Hospital and are the ideal vehicle for picking up children who have or who develop type 1 diabetes. The service such children are receiving at CUH is second to none. It is better than the service that was being delivered by the Dublin-based hospitals.