‘One of the lucky ones’

ROBYN BUCKLEY is one of the lucky ones.

The bubbly six-year-old from Sunday’s Well in Cork is one of just three children in the city and county receiving “pump therapy” to help her manage her diabetes.

The pump device, which is about the size of a mobile phone, effectively mimics the functions of a pancreas and replaces the normal insulin injection regime.

It delivers specific doses of insulin directly into her system on an almost constant basis to ensure her blood sugar levels are kept stable. Thanks to the therapy, she is leading a relatively normal life.

Her mother, Gail, said she was fortunate enough to be deemed suitable for the therapy three years ago, along with two other children who attend Cork University Hospital’s (CUH) paediatric diabetes unit.

But because of a lack of trained staff, adequate funding, and proper support at the clinic, none of the 263 other children who attend has the option of receiving the therapy, Ms Buckley said.

By contrast, almost 50% of the 250 children attending Temple Street hospital’s paediatric diabetes unit in Dublin, are on pump therapy.

“We seem to have the forgotten children,” said Ms Buckley. “Temple Street also has three whole time nurses. We have one. And we have no dietician which is crucial in managing diabetes.

“In fact, the situation at our clinic has worsened over the last year.

“We’ve written to Mary Harney and to the head of the Health Service Executive (HSE) Brendan Drumm to highlight this issue.

“But they keep referring us back to Gerry O’Dwyer, the hospital network manager in Cork.

“He’s promised us the earth, but he has delivered nothing,” she said.

Pump therapy is expensive and complex to manage. Parents need a lot of support and advice to manage the system.

But Ms Buckley said it is the pump manufacturers, and not the HSE, who are providing support to the parents of the three Cork children currently on the treatment. The clinic just doesn’t have someone on call to deal with parents’ queries, she said.

“That to me is very frightening,” she said.

Robyn was ill on Saturday and it affected her blood sugar levels.

“In situations like this, when you need to contact the hospital, you can’t get the advice of an expert,” she said.

“If you ring outside office hours, you might get an on-call registrar who is not an expert in the area. It is absolutely not good enough in this day and age."