To suggest that testing is only a "comfort blanket" and is not necessary is nothing short of utterly ludicrous.
There is proven scientific evidence that failure to manage bg causes damage and can lead to long term complications, even in prediabetes. Taking the necessary actions to mitigate this potential damage is a whole lot cheaper for the NHS, than letting diabetics' conditions simply run riot, then paying the cost of dealing with complications later. Like with so many conditions, the NHS tries to save money by petty penny-pinching, but pays through the nose, ten fold, further down the line, rather than taking a proactive financial strategy. This is simply poor accounting, but the very suggestion that diabetic patients are "selfish" for wanting strips, simply to pro-actively manage what can be a very damaging and debilitating condition, is, at best, insulting and at worst, complete madness.
The NHS pays for all sorts of things that we could sit and question, but that is not the point. The point is that the NHS should be free and we've all paid into it at some time or another. What price are we now putting on human lives, quality of life and future health, if we are to question patients having the means by which to manage their conditions?
The simple fact is that world class healthcare costs money and cannot be achieved by accountancy being the driving factor. Unfortunately, the UK is in severe political and legal disarray and the system is overcrowded by too many people "taking" and not putting in - and not for health reasons, but for endemic problems, such as overcrowding and unfettered immigration. The UK is the most overcrowded country in Europe (and beyond).
If a diabetic does not use the testing methodology to understand what is happening to their blood sugar and use that data to take appropriate interventions, they are simply storing up trouble for the future. I would ask those who imply in this thread that testing is a "comfort blanket" to consider what their stance is, later down the line, when the rest of us have to pay for them to have kidney, eye or nerve problems sorted, for example, or for them to have a limb amputated. Sorry, but that is the stark reality of what can happen when this condition is not monitored and managed and preventative and pro-active steps to avoid that can only be taking by monitoring and acting accordingly.
It is far more selfish to not manage the condition correctly and expect the rest of us to pay for your associated complications in years to come, when it could have been avoided by, in relative terms, inexpensive testing and condition management protocols. I should note that testing and management cannot always offset the possibility of complications, however there is certainly substantive evidence that the risk of such, is considerably reduced, in the face of disciplined management. It costs several hundred pounds simply for a patient to occupy a hospital bed for the night, before treatment, surgery and resources are factored in, not to mention that a bed has been taken up and a patient that may be in greater need, deprived, (whom may well have had NO means of control over their situation).
Anyone that elects to come here and refer to others as selfish, for simply wanting to pro-actively manage their condition, is seriously lacking in understanding of the financial principles of return on investment (ROI) and the financial implications of inaction. Put quite simply, a stitch in time, saves nine. It is every human being's right and indeed *responsibility* in the UK, to use available means by which to improve their health, reduce their risks of future severe health problems and improve their quality of life. Those who don't do this (and indeed whom criticise others for doing so), are in fact the selfish and irresponsible ones, rather than those who do, or whom wish to do, but are denied the means.
Don't come here and take issue with everyone whom wants a "comfort blanket" and whom makes the effort of taking pro-active steps in self-management, then later on, expect us to pay for your the consequences of your inaction, because you were simply too lazy, selfish and irresponsible to expedite proper management of your own condition.
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