Hospital or gp care

[Libby1726]

I am so pleased I have joined this forum. After 53 years of being t1 . I am so out of touch. I have gone through a very bad patch over the last 12 months. I have had enough. In December I went to my Gp for my annual check up . I was horrified as my Hba1c was 8.9. I told the nurse I need help. I am now under the care of a specialist nurse. I feel I have to look after myself as there is no one out there. Do you all go to the hospital for your care?

 

[himtoo]

I am so pleased I have joined this forum. After 53 years of being t1 . I am so out of touch. I have gone through a very bad patch over the last 12 months. I have had enough. In December I went to my Gp for my annual check up . I was horrified as my Hba1c was 8.9. I told the nurse I need help. I am now under the care of a specialist nurse. I feel I have to look after myself as there is no one out there. Do you all go to the hospital for your care?

I have gone to diabetic clinic at hospital ever since moving to the UK in 1988 -- normally every 6 months.
i would politely ( demand) a referral to hospital.

 

[mattpiano]

Hi Libby. My care is looked after at my GP's surgery. I see the Diabetes nurse there once a year for a review and have a HbA1c test every 6 months, and that is that.

I'm pleased you asked for help and I hope you are supported properly in taking care of it all. I think we all find Diabetes a challenging thing to bear at times.

 

[noblehead]

I'm under the care of a hospital diabetes clinic Libby, was changed over to the care of my gp practice but asked to change back after they couldn't help with some insulin related issues I was having, IMHO the care under a hospital clinic is far better than what you would get in a gp clinic.

 

[robert72]

I went from 2007 to 2014 under the care of my GP only, as I was not getting any benefit from seeing the hospital team. The only reason I went back to hospital care was that I wanted to try a new basal and my GP said he had no experience of it. So I guess it's useful to see a consultant if you want to keep up with the latest.

 

[dancer]

I think you'll find that most Type 1s are seen at hospital clinics. I for one wouldn't trust any of my GPs to treat my diabetes. I certainly wouldn't be on the pump if I wasn't seeing a consultant.

 

[mattpiano]

I should add that in the past I received care from hospital clinics. When I still lived in Lancashire I was under a Diabetes Consultant at the hospital, but I found the clinic visits far from helpful. If my numbers were less than perfect I was made to feel like a naughty school boy rather than being offered positive advice or support, and I ended up seeing a different locum every time because the consultant was often elsewhere. Since moving to Northants, I've been exclusively under the care of the GP practice and, although I still don't feel they really know me, I feel the care has been more supportive overall.

My experience, based on moving around quite a bit, is that it is all a bit of a postcode lottery as to what standard of care you get, and where the best care is available.

 

[Natalie1974]

I was under my GP for years until quite recently...it was only when I started to get myself back on track and asking difficult questions of the GP and nurse that I got referred. Although I can't say it was completely pointless...I do find that I learn a lot more from this forum

 

[Libby1726]

I will talk to the specialist nurse. Seeing a nurse at my gp practice who is not fully qualified in diabetes, once a year - not good.

 

[Libby1726]

Thanks everyone for you comments. Very helpful

 

[johnbear2]

I am under the care of the hospital clinic and the doctors nurse because I have mythacondrial type 1 diabetes