Diabetes: Kilkeel family's fears as supply of vital sensors runs out

Oscar, 12, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was seven

A woman unable to access vital medical equipment to control her son's diabetes has said she is worried what is going to happen when the supply runs out.

Oscar, from Kilkeel, County Down, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was seven.

The 12 year old uses some of the latest technology to control it.

The equipment is an insulin pump system with a sensor which constantly reads his blood sugars and gives him insulin when he needs it.

However, the family's supply is due to run out in just a few days' time.

Oscar's mum Pauline Newell said it had been a game-changer for their family because instead of using needles and injections, the sensor on his arm sent a message to the pump to tell it when to release or suspend the medication.

"It means we can get on with life and forget about diabetes - you're not thinking about it every few hours," she said.

But now they've encountered an issue for the first time since Oscar started using the system - they have been unable to get their most recent supply of sensors.

On 18 May they put in an order to the Southern Health and Social Care Trust.

Ms Newell said it was a standard request they made every three months and normally the supplies arrived within a week.

This time, however, it still has not arrived and she has been given no indication if it will come any time soon.

The family have described the Guardian 4 sensor as a gamechanger

Ms Newell said she was advised to directly contact the company that manufactures the sensors and said they told her they had no stock at all.

Oscar is worried that if they cannot get them soon it will change how he lives on a day-to-day basis.

"Before, when I was doing finger pricks, sport was very hard for me because I would have to constantly stop instead of playing the whole entire time," he said.

He is worried he will be going back to constantly having to think about diabetes and nothing else.

Ms Newell has been so desperate to get the equipment for her son that she travelled 40 miles to meet a man who funds his own supplies of the sensors, who was willing to give her two.

Each sensor - which is inserted into Oscar's arm - lasts for about a week. He is currently using the last sensor they have been able to source.

This summer they had planned to go on their first holiday abroad since Oscar's diagnosis, but Ms Newell said that would not happen if they could not get the sensors.

Pauline Newell said the system has enabled her to go to sleep reassured abut her son's diabetes

"For the first two years of Oscar's diagnosis I never got a full night's sleep," she said.

"With this system I can go to sleep and be reassured."

The Southern Trust said it was aware of a recent issue with the supply of the sensors.

It said it had contacted the manufacturer urgently to follow up on its orders and said it would contact patients affected by the issue to update them on the situation and options available.