CHILDREN in Limerick who have to suffer the pain of multiple injections daily have been given their best Christmas present ever with news that an end to their suffering is in sight. It was revealed this week that the HSE has advertised a post which is vital to the provision of insulin pumps for children with diabetes. Interviews are already being arranged for a diabetes specialist nurse who can teach children and parents how to use the pumps and now the post of dietician has also been advertised.
This will make it possible for around 125 children and their parents to be trained in how to use the pumps without having to go to Dublin.
Until now, the pump treatment could not be provided in Limerick because the specialist staff were not in place to teach families how to match the food their children eat to the amount of insulin which needs to be delivered by the pump. The pumps do away with the need for painful injections.
Joe Saunders of Parents of Type 1 Paediatric Patients of MWRH Limerick said that the advertisement of the post is “very good news. This means the service can be provided in Limerick for the first time. It will be rolled out first for the under-fives but it means that there will be pumps available down the line for all the children who are suitable and who need them”.
