Online petition supporting retention of services at paediatric diabetes clinic gets 2,000 signatures

An online petition set up by parents concerned about the future of the paediatric diabetes clinic at Midlands Regional Hospital Mullingar has received almost 2,000 signatures in less than a week.

Parents are fearful that the clinic, which treats 145 children from across the midlands, will close due to staff shortages.

In a post on the change.org website, Castletown Geoghegan mother Janice Reel, whose son Rhian is a patient of the clinic, urged the public to sign the petition.

"This is a vital service that 145 children need and use on a daily basis. Help us keep this service open to keep our children safe and healthy. This service, for the last number of years, has been run by a five member multidisciplinary team. At present, due to staffing issues, it's being run on a minimal scale with just the doctor, who is doing all he can to keep the clinics running single-handedly under severe pressure.

"On a daily basis, this means we have no access to nursing support or pump support. Children with type 1 diabetes never have two days the same and constantly need ratio changes and advice from the diabetes team."

Last Friday, hospital management announced that an experienced diabetes nurse was joining the team in Mullingar on a short-term basis from this Monday, April 15.

However, parents have described the current situation as merely a "sticking plaster".

“We thought this was great until we discovered that the nurse has been taken out of the unit in Portlaoise. It’s really taking from Peter to pay Paul. The nurse will be coming into the unit and doesn’t know any of the children," Ms Reel told the Westmeath Examiner on Monday.

She added that parents are worried about the impact that the ongoing staffing issues will have on the health of their children.

“It’s our job as parents to keep our children safe. When you add in diabetes, it [the stress] is 100 times worse.

“There are also the long-term implications for the children, as diabetes can cause severe side effects such as damage to the liver and kidneys, unless it is properly managed."

Despite the arrival of the new nurse, outpatient clinic appointments were cancelled yesterday.

In a statement issued yesterday, hospital management said that the appointments were cancelled due to "additional necessary staff leave".

The hospital said that the 14 affected patients were notified and their appointments are being rescheduled.

"In terms of longer term planning, additional staffing has been requested by Regional Hospital Mullingar for the future development of the Paediatric Diabetes Unit to ensure a resilient service. These posts have been approved for derogation and the hospital is progressing to immediate recruitment."