Am a bit nervous after reading the above replies and their tone about sticking my head above the parapet, but I am a nurse practitioner working in a GP surgery. I am self-funding a diploma in diabetes to learn more about the latest indepth research, I do not do diabetic reviews, but want to learn more in order to support patients better. I would suggest calling the surgery and asking for a GP to ring you back to discuss your blood results. All surgeries I have worked at offer this - the GP can give you your HbA1c result over the phone. While you have their attention, you could ask if it would be possible to have a prescribed BM machine and repeat script for testing strips as you want to maximise your chances of sticking to a normal glycaemia and reducing your risk of complications. I think some of you are right, BM testing strips are so expensive that the NICE guidelines (sadly often guided by the cheapest, not always the best option) do not recommend them for oral controlled type 2 diabetics. Having said that, we are not sheep, we are clinicians who should always listen to patients, and do what we would hope would be done for our families, or that is how I work. I am so sorry that you have had this experience, but please do not give up, you sound like a very well motivated, very sensible person, most GPs can only dream of a patient like you
best wishes
Ali