Diabetics resort to A&E in staff crisis
Particularly badly hit is Mayo, where three monthly appointments with diabetic specialists have been extended out to six and nine months.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) said that waiting times had increased for both new and review patients at Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar.
It pointed out that while there was no consultant diabetologist at the hospital, one of the consultant physicians, who worked full time, had diabetes as an area of interest.
The HSE admitted, however, that it had not been possible to fill the position of clinical nurse specialist that became vacant when the previous holder progressed to advance nurse practitioner.
It said the situation was under review.
DFI spokeswoman Anna Clarke said people with diabetes were turning up sick at accident and emergency because diabetes services around the country were so poorly resourced.
And, she said, a recently published study warned of a 30% increase in the number of people diagnosed with diabetes in Ireland within the next seven years.
“What is happening is people who should be having their check-ups every three months find that as they get closer to the appointment date, it is postponed. So routine care is suffering.”
Ms Clarke said it was crucial that those with diabetes, particularly young children, were checked regularly.
These three-monthly check-ups are essential for quality of life, proper growth and the development and reduction of long-term complications associated with the condition, she stressed.
Ms Clarke said people with diabetes were having to resort to A&E and their own GPs because the specialised care they needed was unavailable.
She added that an expert advisory group on diabetes was established last year by HSE chief executive Professor Brendan Drumm and she hoped that it would identify investment in manpower throughout the country as their major priority.
Consultant endocrinologist Dr Graham Roberts, said there was very strong evidence that considerably more than 10% of hospital beds in Ireland were used to treat the complications of diabetes.
It was really a case of spending one euro to save three or four, he stressed.
“If we were to spend the money on diabetes care, we would keep these people out of hospital and free up the 10% of hospital beds that we need,” he said.
Dr Roberts said it was well known that diabetes services throughout the country were understaffed and that increases were needed in consultant numbers.
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