Fianna Fáil Deputy Niamh Smyth has received confirmation from the HSE that some patients with diabetes have been diverted from Cavan General Hospital to seek support from their GP.
Commenting, Deputy Niamh Smyth said, “ The HSE have informed me by way of a response to a Parliamentary Question I asked on this matter, that certain patients with ‘Type II Diabetes who have achieved and are maintaining target control of their diabetes’ have been diverted to GPs in Cavan and Monaghan Primary Care area.”
“I have spoken to people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes who attend the clinic regularly in Cavan General Hospital about this and they hope that this programme will see them being able to be monitored more regularly.”
“The HSE says that the patients have been transferred to primary care over the past 12 months for ongoing management locally. They also say that the increased capacity being created by this move in the Diabetic Unit at Cavan General Hospital, as a result of this initiative, will see faster access to the Diabetic Unit for Type I and unstable Type II diabetics.”
“The HSE have also informed me that this move is compliant with the National Clinical Care Programme for Diabetes and that as the capacity at the Unit in Cavan General Hospital expands, the unit will ‘start commencing more complex treatments for patients who require specialist diabetic support’.”
Deputy Smyth concluded, “I do hope patients are seen quicker and the more severe cases have better access to services. I would also hope that this is a ‘patient quality’ move and that services at our fantastic diabetic unit at Cavan General Hospital will now be advanced and enhanced further as a result of this transferral of patients to Primary Care. On that note, I would hope that the HSE have done their market research on this move so that we see a demand for ‘specialist diabetic support’. There is no point in having a service that no one uses, nor needs. We’ve seen all too well in the past such services being taken away.”