The parents of children with type 1 diabetes have been protesting outside Letterkenny General Hospital in Donegal, over the deterioration in paediatric diabetes services there.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition, not related to weight or a sedentary lifestyle. It is not preventable or reversible and is most commonly diagnosed in childhood. Around 19,000 people in Ireland are affected.

Recent figure show that there are 103 children under 16 with diabetes from Donegal who are attending Letterkenny General, five of whom have been diagnosed since January 1. Meanwhile, a further 40 teenagers aged 16-19 are attending the diabetes transition clinic at the hospital.

Twenty-seven of these children are currently on insulin pump therapy and 17 are being assessed or are waiting for assessment. Insulin pump therapy is widely considered the best diabetes management system for children with the condition.

In order for a child to get a pump, they must attend a Dublin hospital. However they also require support from a paediatric diabetes clinical nurse specialist to help them cope with this treatment and reduce their need to travel to Dublin for future appointments.

According to recommendations made by the the HSE's Diabetes Expert Advisory Group, there should be one such nurse for every 100 children and/or teenagers with diabetes. Donegal meets this criteria, but still has no such post in place.

The Donegal Parents Support Group of the national charity Diabetes Ireland met with the Health Minister, Dr James Reilly, when he last visited the hospital in April 2013, in order to discuss the appointment of such a nurse specialist.

"Following our meeting with Minister Reilly in 2013, we were optimistic that a paediatric diabetes clinical nurse specialist would be appointed in Letterkenny General. At that time the Minister told us we were 'reasonable people with a reasonable request'.

"Since that meeting, the hospital consultant caring for children with diabetes has left the service and the nurse working full time in paediatric diabetes has had to take on responsibility for adults as well as children. This actually means that paediatric diabetes staff resources have worsened at Letterkenny Hospital since the Minster's last visit," explained Sarah, whose son attends the hospital.

The parents decided to mount a protest today (March 3) to coincide with a visit by Minister Reilly to the hospital.

They said that they are protesting over the reduction in staffing levels and the ‘lack of action' by the Health Minister and managers at the hospital, ‘which is putting our children at risk'.

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