I am hoping you can help me out. i would like to know what regions in New Zealand have district health boards that actively fund and support the use of pumps. I know some areas of New Zealand have full funding, while at other districts it is a struggle to even discuss the possibility of starting on a pump. I am getting the "run around" from my local health board and am working on a proposal to our local MP to standardise the care diabetics receive throughout the country. So if i could include this detail on my proposal it would be greatly appreciated.
Hi, Thanks for your questions. What part of the country are you from? I am in Nelson and Insulin Pump use is relatively new - though if you have diabetes and are pregnant a pump is made available for the duration of the pregnancy. Also a few loan pumps are available for children - if they fit the criteria. Standardisation is what is needed, but each DHB has its own focus healthcare need/group. Pump supplies are not funded. I would be interested in reading, how you get on.
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Diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes October 1987. Insulin pumper since June 2006
we are in christchurch, and the pumps are going to the teenage children. i have a young son - 6 yrs old - whose diabetes is all over the place. we have been requesting and requesting for the Canty DHB to start our son on a pump - they all ready have them in stock - but they are saying they don't have the resources for pump starts. my point of view is that better control now will lead to less complications later in life. i know that in Auckland and other NI centres pumping is encouraged and supported by the DHB's. In Christchurch it is a case of wait until we have a spare week, which never eventuates. we have waited two years so far and this is why i am putting a proposal together for a standardised diabetes health care plan across NZ.
Hey Concerned Dad, I appreciate where you are coming from but there are a few other things that are influencing the problems in Christchurch. In Chch there is a very active (pro-active) youth support network - who independantly sourced funding for Insulin Pumps - and you are right - they have the pumps waiting. However the DHB clinical staff (nurses) are currently under funded in general and they need more DHB funding to employ more nurses and then hopefully they will be ready to start younger children on pumps. In Auckland the funding for Pumps comes from charity (starship foundation) but the ADHB have then employed a specialist nurse to initiate pump starts and manage these patients once up and running. I suggest that any active lobying that you undertake should be towards getting equal staff at Christchurch hospital (on a per type one patient ratio) as Auckland and other centres. Wellington had a similar situation to Chch but the Hospital Staff (Diabetes team manager) campaigned for more staff from the DHB and then they also sourced independant private charities to fund the pump purchases. Other centres spend the minimal DHB provided pump funding for just the consumables - and other buy low cost pumps and then hope that the receiving patients can then get WINZ funds or afford to pay for the consumables themselves, this often results in a patient coming off a funded pump because they can no longer afford the upkeep - this then wastes the clinical team time who conducted the initial pump start, although nobody at the DHB, Pharmac or MOH see this as a waste? On a national scale - it is higly unlikely that we will get additional funding for the purchase of pumps or for specialist pump nurses - as the total cost for this will likely blow the government deficit even further. We can however advocate for a national (Pharmac) pump consumable scheme. This way the cost of running a pump will be reduced for all - no matter where you live. One final option is to privately start on a pump? Waikato pump services do offer this as an option for regional DHB's to buy a specialised pump start?
i could buy a pump tomorrow if i knew the DHB would be able to provide a pump start - the problem we currently have is that they do not have the "staffing or resources" to provide the pump starts, while other DHB's have dedicated staff to cover this. that is why i am trying to work in with my MP to standardise the care diabetics receive across the country. while i understand each DHB operates and distributes their funding differently there are a continuous reports showing pumping is a far more pro-active and accurate way to administer insulin than MDI's, and with the reduced HbA1C's there are fewer complications later in life.
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