Concerns raised after suspension of diabetes clinic
A specialist diabetes clinic at Regional Hospital Mullingar has been temporarily suspended due to critical staffing shortages. Patients and advocates are concerned about the lack of access to essential care and training for new medical technology.
Why it matters
Illustrates the strain on public healthcare systems and the direct impact of staffing vacancies on patient health outcomes.
A group representing diabetes patients in the Midlands has expressed serious concern at the temporary closure of a specialist clinic based at Regional Hospital Mullingar.
The HSE wrote to type 1 diabetes patients at the end of September informing them that, due to staffing shortages, the adult day diabetes centre was being "temporarily suspended".
Norman Dolan, a type 1 diabetic from Delvin, Co Westmeath was one of a number of people who campaigned for this specialist clinic for many years.
Over 20 years ago, the then minister for health Mary O'Rourke committed to establishing a specialised service in Mullingar.
Mr Dolan is disappointed by what has happened two decades later and said he is concerned about the future.
"We simply have no staff to run the clinic anymore and Mullingar deals with patients from counties Westmeath, Leitrim, Offaly, Longford, Meath, Kildare and Roscommon," he said.
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