A Campbell Town man with diabetes type 1 has said more needs to be done to support the disease after his call for help managing his conditions went unanswered by the Launceston General Hospital.
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On June 3, Peter Pennington underwent urgent neck surgery as a public patient at the Calvary Lenah Valley Hospital in Hobart.
Following the surgery, Mr Pennington was released on June 6, but the 55-year-old said he became concerned about his blood glucose levels, which prompted him to call the John Morris Diabetes Centre at the LGH for support.
"I was only having a half dose of my long-lasting insulin, my sugar levels were very high and the danger is when it gets high it can cause organ damage and make you very sick," he said.
"I just wanted to know how to get my dosage back up safely, because you can't just adjust big amounts.
"I was having 16 units when I should have been having 32 and I didn't want to jump up to 32 units in one go because it drags the carbs out of your system and makes your sugar drop."
Mr Pennington said he wanted to talk to a diabetes educator at the centre about how to safely adjust his glucose levels and ask what he could eat following the surgery.
"I've managed my diabetes reasonably well, but this is something I've never dealt with before, the insulin adjustments after surgery, and no one got back to me," he said.
He said he first contacted the JMDC on June 8, where he left a message but no one returned his call. On June 14, he called again to follow up and was told staff at the centre had missed his message due to staff shortages.
After his first contact went unanswered, Mr Pennington developed a chest infection which he said could have been linked to his high glucose levels.
"Sugar levels will affect my recovery as such or impede the antibiotics, your body doesn't function properly, It's like playing football with a half pumped up ball," he said. "It will work, but not very well."
Mr Pennington said the chest infection worsened and he was placed on a course of antibiotics by his GP, but he believed the issue could have been avoided if he had been able to speak to someone at the JMDC.
"I had a one-off question about my insulin that I needed to speak to a diabetic educator about, it could have been sorted in 10 minutes if I had that conversation," he said.
With his post-operative recovery going well and having overcome his chest infection Mr Pennington said he was speaking out so the next person doesn't go through what he went through.
"It's not about me personally, this is what sparked my interest, the lack of care and response that I got personally, but I found out since then it's an ongoing problem with a lot of people," he said.
"I just want it to be drawn to Jeremy Rockliff's attention or hopefully the federal government's attention and get something more for type 1 diabetes in Tasmania."
When asked if the government had plans to increase type 1 services in remote communities, Premier Jeremy Rockliff said clinical service planning was underway to consider the population's health needs and the service's capability to meet these needs.
Traci Lonergan is a private practice nurse practitioner based in Launceston who specialises in type 1 diabetes.
She said while Hobart and Burnie both had diabetes centres, the service in Launceston was equal to services on the mainland.
"We're very lucky in Australia that we have such good access to the care and medications for diabetes," she said.
"I guess there are waiting periods, but we now have a number of endocrinologists which we haven't had for a long time, and we've also got the extended team at the Northern Integrated Care Service and as part of the JMDC.
"Not every service in the state has access to a multidisciplinary team of dieticians, social workers or psychologist and podiatrist, diabetes educators and an endocrinologist."
She said for people living outside of the major cities like Launceston, Hobart and Burnie telehealth had become a viable option, but there was a gap in physical services.
Ms Lonergan said despite the quality of the service provided by the JMDC more support for people with diabetes was needed as well as for the clinicians who treated them.
"There's a lot of support required for these people, but there's also a lot of support required for the team who cares for them because they are really, really under the pump in the health system," she said "It's a very intense condition to manage, It's lifelong and there are no diabetes holidays."
Department of Health acting secretary Shane Gregory said as part of the Outpatient Transformation Program, the department was considering different service models within an outpatient care setting, which could include group diabetes education classes to improve access to advice and care, and provide support to GPs in the management of more complex patients.
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Andrew Chounding
An experienced multi-platform journalist focusing on the issues that impact health in Tasmania. With a background in social research and public policy, health reporting for Andrew is about ensuring the best health outcomes for the Northern Tasmanian community. Contact Andrew at: andrew.chounding@examiner.com.au or 0437 358 262
An experienced multi-platform journalist focusing on the issues that impact health in Tasmania. With a background in social research and public policy, health reporting for Andrew is about ensuring the best health outcomes for the Northern Tasmanian community. Contact Andrew at: andrew.chounding@examiner.com.au or 0437 358 262
