New monitors for Hāwera hospital diabetes patients

The Hāwera Hospital Diabetes Service has been gifted 21 glucose monitors and readers by the Hāwera Christmas House Tour Group. Debra Hook has been wearing her new reader for nearly 6 weeks.

South Taranaki diabetes patients are benefitting from a donation of 21 glucose readers and monitors in the lead up to Christmas.

The Hāwera Christmas House Tour Group has run an event for the past three years allowing the public to visit South Taranaki homes that are beautifully decorated for Christmas.

The money raised from the tour allowed the group to gift 16 continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices and five blood glucose readers to Hāwera hospital.

Hāwera Christmas House Tour Group co-ordinator Myron Bent said choosing to fund the glucose monitors was “a no-brainer”.

“One of our volunteers who displays her house at Christmas as part of the tour, is involved in the hospital and mentioned that it’s a valuable piece of patient equipment that makes a real difference to those who live with diabetes,” Bent said.

“We’re so happy that this fun event we put on every two years, can make a real difference for the wider South Taranaki community.”

Patients with diabetes need to continually measure and track their blood glucose levels, and these devices are a crucial tool to allow them to get an accurate reading.

Taranaki District Health Board clinical nurse specialist Trisha Hurley said the monitors helped to simplify a patient’s daily care routine.

“The CGM devices and readers are fantastic because they give the patient a 14-day break from doing finger pricking up to 4-8 times per day,” Hurley said.

“They provide 24-hour glucose data instead.”

The devices also enable the diabetes team to remotely monitor patients and see how frequently they may experience a drop in their blood glucose levels.

Hurley said they recently placed a CGM sensor on an 89-year-old patient who described the reader as “game-changing”.

It gave him the confidence to venture outside of the house on walks, she said.

“It is not uncommon for a patient to have no idea how often their blood glucose levels dip dangerously low, so with this level of detailed data we can confidently and quickly adjust the patient’s insulin doses.”

Anyone interested in displaying their Christmas house at next year’s South Taranaki Christmas House Tour can get in touch by contacting the group via their Facebook page.