HEALTH chiefs in Lanarkshire have come under fire for contributing to a "postcode lottery" of diabetes treatment for children.
Minister for Public Health, Michael Matheson, singled out NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Highland for failing to meet targets for provision of insulin pumps.
Giving evidence at yesterday's Public Petitions Committee, he said, "clinical competence" in some areas together with poor health board leadership was preventing an equality of access to children with Type 1 diabetes.
Ministers have made a commitment to supply a quarter of under-18s who have diabetes with insulin pumps.
The portable pumps are attached to the body and deliver constant amounts of insulin to help control blood sugar levels.
However NHS Lanarkshire has said it will not meet that target until 2015, two years after most health boards.
More than 600 insulin pumps are to be made available to young people with diabetes, following £3million of Government funding.
Jane-Claire Judson, National Director of Diabetes UK Scotland, said: "We acknowledge the hard work of those health boards who have been successful in delivering this crucial service.
"We are also pleased that the Scottish Government has echoed our concerns about NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Highlands lack of delivery on insulin pump services to the children and families in their areas."
caroline.wilson@
eveningtimes.co.uk
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