NHS must act on diabetes pump

RE: "DIABETIC girl must wait three years for vital kit" (News, 4 April). The situation in which the Holman family finds itself is common across Scotland.

With one of the highest levels of Type 1 diabetes in the western world, Scotland is way behind other countries in its adoption of the insulin pump. We are in a situation where health boards are only looking at short-term costs and IPAG Scotland (Insulin Pump Awareness Group) are aware that there are health board members out there with little or no knowledge of what an insulin pump is and what it can do.

Pumps can hugely improve the quality of life for the people who use them by reducing hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) and making blood sugar levels generally much easier to control.

However, it is not quite as simple as just learning to push some buttons. Patients must learn how to manage their insulin doses, test them to make sure that they are right and learn how to deal with the huge variety of different situations that occur during daily life.

Mr and Mrs Holman must remember that when things go wrong or Amalia becomes ill, they will still need the support of the NHS and if there is insufficient resource and knowledge within the diabetes team to deal with insulin pumps, this could make things more difficult for them. They must also remember that if they self-fund, they may have to replace the pump themselves at the end of its life (approximately four years) if the NHS is unable to do this.

I would also point out that following a recent NHS tender, there are three pump manufacturers on the list of available pumps in Scotland. Each pump has differing features so it is important to choose the one which has the best features to meet individual needs.

I personally use an insulin pump and have found that it has transformed my life after 54 years of struggling with injections – lost time from school, general poor health, frequent hospital and GP visits.

Get your act together NHS Scotland. Putting resource into insulin pumps now will save the NHS in the long term by reducing complications such as blindness, kidney failure and amputations. Please do something to help the many people who feel as if they are right up against it trying to control their condition.

Mary Moody, chair, Insulin Pump Awareness Group Scotland (IPAG)