A few people in our community asked us ‘What is a Win?’ after our advocacy work this week.

Attendance: 41 TD’s and Senators attended the briefing and that was a good result in comparison to other similar events.

A Round-up of what happened on the day: At the event on the day, we emphasised that we (diabetes community) have an agreed strategy ready and all we need is a multi-annual resource commitment from the Minister for Health that will require a relatively small investment over 5 years in extra manpower resources. We are spending €1.3b on diabetes each year, €800m of that is being spent on dealing with the complications of diabetes. We pointed out that that if some of that annual spend was re-directed for example towards funding the paediatric diabetes strategy, huge financial savings from preventing diabetes related complications would be accrued in future years. We are not asking for new monies but we are asking for a move from a reactive style of care to a preventative model of care as outlined in the programme for government.

Reaction after the event: Many TD’s and Senators approached the advocacy team after the event and commented on how well the strategy covered the many issues highlighted to them by their constituents. Many Senators and TD’s tweeted and facebooked their support to their community.

What are our Wins?

Paediatric Type 1 Diabetes

We need to see progress in implementing the Paediatric Diabetes Strategy that was published in December 2015. As a start, we want to see the Consultant Paediatric Endocrinologist posts agreed for Limerick and Galway to be filled by the end of this year.

Priorities for 2017 are the need for extra manpower resources to address complex diabetes cases referred to Dublin Children’s Hospital(s) and to cater for the 200+ children in the South East. So the recruitment of a Consultant Paediatric Endocrinologist in the South East and up to 5 more Consultants for Dublin would be a great win. With these posts would come a need for additional nurses and dietitians to provide the service we deserve.

Type 1 and Type 2 Adult Diabetes

For Adult Type 1 diabetes services, which has being overlooked in recent years, the 2017 priority would be get agreement to recruit a Consultant Endocrinologist in Limerick, Cork and Waterford.

For Type 2 Diabetes Services we need to see recruitment of the 36 community posts (9 Podiatrists, 9 Diabetes Nurse Specialists and 18 Senior Dietitians) sanctioned in the 2016 HSE Service Plan begin now so they are placed in their designated communities around the country by the end of this year. We need a commitment to fund more of these posts to support the Diabetes Type 2 Cycle of Care in 2017.

How can YOU continue to work with us to keep Diabetes at the top of the Irish Health agenda?

• Keep engaging with our posts on Twitter, Facebook and the Latest News section on our website and share this information with your friends and family
  
• Keep in touch with your local TD’s and Senators. You have a list of what we need. There is no harm in reminding them, in time, if we do not see these appointments being made and actions being taken.
  Find TD’s by constituency 
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• The more people that read and hear about Diabetes and understand the challenges faced by people with Diabetes, the stronger we become as a community.

Thank you for your ongoing support.