Diabetes Ireland has today launched its Pre-budget submission and is proposing 8 immediate actions which will improve the quality of life for over 225,000 people living with diabetes and reduce the long-term costs of preventable diabetes complications.
Speaking at the launch, Prof Hilary Hoey, Chairperson, Diabetes Ireland said “the submission is focused on a range of deliverable actions that are person-centred, cost effective and builds on existing HSE commitments to tackle chronic conditions including diabetes.
With an average of 12-13,000 new diagnoses of diabetes annually, the prevalence of diabetes is increasing at an alarming rate. However, without a National Diabetes Register clinicians are unable to accurately measure clinical outcomes, track prevalence rates at a geographical level or enhance diabetes services where there is most need. This has resulted in inequity of care based on a person’s postal address. A Slaintecare project was paused as a result of Covid 19 and an immediate action the government can take is to restart this project immediately. We are also concerned that the funding for diabetes posts outlined in the HSE’s Winter Plan 2021 will not be made available so we are seeking confirmation that the funding will be made available and that the posts are filled urgently.
Diabetes Ireland is also seeking the removal of the age restriction on the Flash Glucose Monitoring system, the Freestyle Libre. “This has been a major issue for the past 3 years, and we are simply looking for adults to be able to access the technology based on clinical need. There is a substantial body of clinical evidence demonstrating that the technology improves clinical outcomes for people with diabetes who intensively use insulin as it allows users to see a more comprehensive profile of their blood glucose levels and make more informed diabetes management decisions on a daily basis” added Prof Hoey.
Cormac Devlin TD, Chair of the Cross Parliamentary Group on Diabetes, said “with more than 225,000 people with diabetes in Ireland and numbers increasing every year, these actions, identified by both people with diabetes and diabetes healthcare professionals, can easily be delivered and we are calling on the Minister for Health to allocate appropriate funding for them in the upcoming budget. In February 2021, the HSE Medicines Management Programme (MMP) completed an evaluation to identify preferred blood glucose test strips for adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus, as part of the MMP’s remit to support safe, effective, and cost-effective prescribing and launched new guidelines for healthcare professionals. Diabetes Ireland estimates that around €8-10m will be saved this year alone with similar or higher savings in future years. Our Cross Parliamentary Group is looking for these savings to be ringfenced for diabetes care.”
Cormac Devlin TD, Chair of the Cross Parliamentary Group on Diabetes & Diabetes Ireland Chairperson, Professor Hilary Hoey