Children’s diabetes service team scoop prestigious national award
By Mary Dennehy
THE clinical team behind the paediatric diabetes service in the National Children’s Hospital in Tallaght has won a prestigious national health award for its holistic and young patient-focused care.
The service, which has been based at the local hospital since it opened in 1998, won the Clinical Team of the Year category at the Irish Healthcare Awards, which were held in the Royal Marine Hotel in Dun Laoghaire earlier this month.
The clinical team, made up of ten professionals across a range of disciplines, provides care to 350 children and young adults with type one diabetes from the hospital’s surrounding communities – and some who have been referred to the service from across the country.
The team also provides care to a small number of children with type two diabetes and those at risk of developing type two diabetes.
With a strong focus on holistic care, the paediatric diabetes service educates parents and young people in areas such as self-care, problem-solving, food and carbohydrate counting, alongside encouraging them to manage their diabetes through a range of inititaives and programmes – such as learning how to manage diabetes through art therapy.
The service also has three clinics, one for children, young teens and a transient clinic which supports young people as they move from paediatric services to adults.
Dr Edna Roche, who is a paediatric endocrinologist with the service, told The Echo: “Any available treatment for type one diabetes that children need is delivered here at Tallaght.
“We have a great multi-disciplinary team which works very closely together to deliver a holistic service to children and young teens across a wide age band.”
When asked about changes to the clinic since moving out to Tallaght 19 years ago, Dr Roche said: “There has been a huge increase in the numbers attending the diabetes service.
“There was between four and eight children in 1998 and now there’s 350.”
While there are paediatric diabetes clinics located in the other childrens’ hospitals, Tallaght holds the Irish Childhood Diabetes National Register (ICDNR) which, supported by the National Children’s Hospital Foundation, has around 10,500 children with type 1 diabetes listed.
Dr Roche told The Echo that the register is used for research purposes, research which leads to the better allocation of resources for those children living with diabetes right across the country.
The register also allows for research into type one diabetes which Dr Roche stressed is not just about food and lifestyle, with a number of potential environmental triggers being examined to fully understand what causes the inherent condition – and why instances of type one diabetes are increasing in Ireland and the western world.
