New Petitions

Our final petition this morning is PE2031. I have a feeling of déjà vu. When I first joined the Public Petitions Committee, some 12 years ago, one of the first petitions that we considered was on the availability at all of insulin pumps at that time. Here we are again, with a petition, lodged by Maria Aitken on behalf of the Caithness Health Action Team, which calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to ensure that children and young people in Scotland who have type 1 diabetes, and would benefit from a lifesaving insulin pump, are provided with one, no matter where they live.

The petitioner highlights what she views as a postcode lottery relating to the provision of continuous glucose monitoring and insulin pumps for children with diabetes, with a particular concern about the waiting lists for those devices across NHS Highland.

10:30

Responding to the petition, the Scottish Government refers to the diabetes improvement plan, which aims to increase access to existing and emerging diabetes technologies that can significantly benefit people with type 1 diabetes. The Scottish Government response highlights that, between 2016 and 2021, it invested an additional £15 million to support the increased provision of insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitoring. The Government also points to current work to roll out diabetes technology with a particular focus on reducing regional variation.

Do members have any comments or suggestions?

I think that we might get to that. I might quite like to write to the different health boards to ask what the current status within each health board is. The assertion is that provision is a postcode lottery. I have a recollection that, right back at the start when the issue was whether insulin pumps would be provided at all, it was a health board lottery. I think that, all that time ago, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde embraced their provision and other health boards did not.

It would be interesting to know what the provision is within each health board and what policies they have surrounding the award of insulin pumps to children. This sits within a framework in which—I think—it is the case that children are meant to get them if they need them, so we need to find out where we are at with all that.

Diabetes Scotland and the Insulin Pump Awareness Group might be able to help us in that work as well. That would be helpful in the first instance. These are very important matters to those people who in life depend on them.

Do we agree to take that action?

Members indicated agreement.

We will keep the petition open, and we will make those inquiries and consider it afresh when we get responses.

That concludes the consideration of our petitions today. We are next due to meet on 4 October. On that note, I formally close the meeting. Thank you all very much.

Meeting closed at 10:32.