Councillor calls on HSE to deliver safe diabetic service for Midlands children

SOCIAL Democrats Councillor Clare Claffey has called on the government to protect the Paediatric Diabetes Clinic Service in Mullingar hospital.

Consultant Paediatric Endocrinologist at Midlands Regional Hospital Mullingar Professor Michael O'Grady has stated that the service is dangerously under resourced and that the single specialist nurse who had been doing the job of two, can not return to work in the clinic until the staffing situation is made safe.

Claffey, a Councillor with Offaly County Council representing the Birr area, said “As a mother and carer to my Type1 Diabetic daughter Kelly I am really disappointed to once again receive distressing news of unsafe conditions for the children and young people of the Midlands as a result of understaffing of the Paediatric Diabetes Clinic Service at Mullingar Hospital.”

Claffey continued “I know from experience, Type1 Diabetes is a serious and extremely difficult condition to manage and as parents we need all the specialist support and advice we can get. The service provide by Professor O’Grady and his nursing staff is second to none and it’s shocking that he has yet again been forced to tell worried parents that the service will be restricted, not because of any lack of demand, but because of HSE mismanagement.”

There are currently 145 children and adolescents attending paediatric diabetes services in Regional Hospital Mullingar.

Professor Michael O’Grady is Consultant Paediatrician and Paediatric Endocrinologist in Mullingar. He is the HSE National Clinical Lead for Pediatric Diabetes. He states that the recommended staffing from a diabetes nursing perspective is one per 50 patients, with essential Dietician cover also required at a ratio of one per 150 patients. Since September 2023, one Advanced Nurse Practitioner has been tasked with a diabetes nursing workload intended for 2.6 nurses, based on the above ratios.

Clare Claffey said “it’s just not acceptable that the HSE are failing to support vital services like this. I am calling on the HSE to respond to this dangerous situation by allocating enough resources to protect the life-saving paediatric diabetic service in Mullingar.”