Diabetes service faces cut

Reducing the Diabetes Lifestyle Centre to a one-doctor, one-nurse service to save $500,000 a year will cost millions of dollars in future treating heart attacks, kidney failure and blindness and amputating diseased limbs, Diabetes Manawatu says.

"It's beyond belief," its secretary Kathy Scott said.

The MidCentral District Health Board proposal, released to the Manawatu Standard under the Official Information Act, suggests cutting 6.2 staff from the specialist service that cares for about 1200 of the district's sickest and most vulnerable diabetics.

They include about 200 children and teenagers, another 100 under the age of 25, people on insulin pumps and pregnant women.

The board's review, part of its financial recovery plan to shave $9.9 million from its costs, said the level of throughput is low in comparison to staffing levels.

It proposes retaining a two-person specialist service within MidCentral Health, and shifting all other diabetes care to the community, where it has invested in employing diabetes nurses within primary health organisation teams as part of its diabetes plan.

It envisages the changes having "minimal impact" and creating opportunities for "further transfer of skills and expertise" to the community, in line with its recognition of diabetes as a priority health concern.

But Mrs Scott said the plan shows a misunderstanding of what the centre does already. It only sees patients referred from the hospital and community because their condition is too complex for practice nurses and primary health teams to manage.

She said it fails to recognise the progressive nature of the disease, and the importance of intensive help for those patients most at risk or already developing complications.

Without the centre, more of the district's estimated 8000 diabetics would suffer heart attacks and strokes, kidney failure, amputations and blindness, and repeat hospital admissions that cost an average $4660 each.

MidCentral Health's cardiology service costs more than $6m a year, and renal services cost even more. Half of their patients have diabetes.

Mrs Scott said the centre, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary, was a world-class service, recognised as a centre of excellence.

It has produced New Zealand's first nurse practitioner specialising in diabetes, Helen Snell, and has a second about to achieve the qualification.

"With all the evidence available, we are surprised MidCentral is even considering reconfiguring the service."

Board chief executive Murray Georgel said no decisions had been made about the centre's future. Staff would be consulted, and people outside the organisation would have an opportunity to put their views.

- © Fairfax NZ News