Consultations by the government on proposed changes to the Insulin Pump Therapy Program are leading to more concerns from the NDP.
Opposition Health Critic David Shepherd was on the Trending 55 Hot Seat says people are frustrated by the limited amounts of consultation on this.
“They held a telephone town hall, I believe around 300 folks were able to attend, but they were incredibly frustrated. They came to ask questions and to be able to talk about their concerns and instead they just had a couple of bureaucrats who explained the program that the government had intended to implement in the first place. That’s simple not consultation, that’s not listening, so folks in the diabetic community are very concerned.”
The government announced plans to remove provincial coverage for insulin pumps, that has been criticized by the diabetic community.
Shepherd says one of the groups that will most impacted are parents of children with type 1 diabetes.
“We’ve had parents share about the fact that having an insulin pump means that their child is able to go to school without worry. That they’re able then to go to work while their child is at school, rather than having to worry about their child’s health. If the child does not have that insulin pump, they require that support throughout the day.”
We talked to Shepherd on the Trending 55 Hot Seat, you can hear that full discussion below.
– Kyle Moore, Trending 55 Newsroom
