Letter telling me must use new meter

[pavmas]

I got a letter today informing me that my prescription has been changed to a Gluco RX Nexus, a bit annoyed at first till I did some research, Diabetes could bankrupt the NHS within 20 years and in 35 years could swallow the whole budget.

Something is causing diabetes and we need to find out what, 20 years a go you would have never known anyone with diabetes now you will find that everyone knows someone with diabetes.

They blame everything for diabetes like lack of exercise or to many cream cakes, and I said to my son in a joke a few years back that they will soon blame diabetes on smoking and whats been claimed now is that smoking can cause diabetes.
I considered stopping I really did till I read this and just thought that they are making it up as they go along.

Im type 1 and like type 2 cost cutting is now going through the NHS, so what am I going to do.

Ive decided to embrace this new meter and use it because' it is cheaper for my practice and eventually everyone will only get prescriptions for cheaper testing strips, in the long term more expensive strips will drop in price and a price war will start and we will all eventually get the strips we want at a price that is reasonable,
Glucorx nexus strips are £11 for 50 (approx) and the ones I currently use are £21 and as I use 200 a month that costs my practice an extra £40 a month.
Now if by embracing this new meter and saving the practice £40 a month perhaps type2s might be able to get strips on prescriptions without hassle.
I think it is my duty to help reduce costs as much as possible if only to ensure that younger diabetics get all the help they need and not held back by costs.
20 years from now diabetics make look on this as a golden age where type1s could get all the meds they need and 200 test strips a month on prescription.
Something is causing this and we really have to find out what it is because I never ever had anyone in my family with diabetes now Im type 1 my brother is type 2 my sister in law is type 2.
Im a vegetarian and only ever had home cooking all my life not pre packed stuff, I was active and led a healthy life and then at 59 i got type 1 diabetes with no history ever in my family I honestly worry about my 2 grandaughters now and if they got this, I count myself as very fortunate as I had a diabetic free life up till 59 where I raised my family and was able to work, I dont see how a younger diabetic copes with raising a family with diabetes, how can you work overtime and get extra cash when diabetes is so draining and then there are complications to take into account, when I was younger I built telephone exchanges houses, community centres etc and I'll tell you this if I had diabetes then i would never have been able to do it.
My heart goes out to young diabetics and the problems they face now and in the future and if I can cut cost now that could help you then that's what i am doing, so if your doctor wants to put you on a cheaper meter and strips try to accept it as we are all in this together and we must do all we can to reduce the costs of testing to make it available to all diabetics.

 

[iHs]

I have a feeling that it's starting to get safe to say ' the times, they are a changin'' and that a lot of GP care trusts will either be restricting the expensive brands of strips or prescribing cheaper ones for people to use with a different bg meter. As much as people will feel a bit upset about everything..... any meter with bg teststrips is better than not having one. I hope very much that GPs will realise that anyone who uses insulin does need to test regularly in order to be well and that the better of the 2 evils will be to prescribe cheaper strips than to go about restricting the expensive ones.

You are correct in saying that something needs to be done to stop the rising tide of people developing diabetes but I think you will find that it's down to the way that food is being produced and huge amounts of it now being imported into the UK. That along with the rising sale of alcohol in supermarkets is causing no end of health problems. Eating food means everything to people and GPs skirt around the obesity issue by telling people to do more exercise when in actual fact, they need to address the amounts of food that they eat everyday.

 

[l0vaduck]

I applaud your unselfish sentiments, and if there's no reason for sticking to one brand of meter over another then I would not have an issue with changing, however, as I use a pump, it's sensible for the meter to be the same make as the pump. This allows the readings from both devices to be synchronised on the computer to enable me to work out how my doses are affecting my levels. As I didn't choose the make of pump, if the NHS were to tell me that the strips for my meter are too expensive then I would also need to change pumps - a huge capital outlay - so it's not so clearcut in my case.

 

[iHs]

Hi

I also have the same pump as yourself I think so I do realise how you feel. However the teststrips that we are both so dependant on costs the NHS around £15 or more for a tub of 50. I get through 300 every month so the money does mount up.

My GP has already restricted strips for many of the type 1 patients on her books. The only reason why I am not restricted is because I am using a pump which is technology that my GP doesn't know too much about. If I do end up being restricted and am unable to pay privately for strips to go in my pump meter, then I will have no option but to stop using the pump and also ditch bolus/basal as well. I'll just go back to twice daily insulins again.

 

[iHs]

It's also not only the expensive bg teststrips that will be restricted for many insulin dependant people, the restriction will also end up being applied to the expensive analogue bolus/basal insulins. So everyone will only be able to have so many cartridges per month because of the cost and everyone will have to adjust how much food they eat every day so that they dont run out of insulin.

 

[Paul_c]

It's also not only the expensive bg teststrips that will be restricted for many insulin dependant people, the restriction will also end up being applied to the expensive analogue bolus/basal insulins. So everyone will only be able to have so many cartridges per month because of the cost and everyone will have to adjust how much food they eat every day so that they don't run out of insulin.

that could be a blessing in disguise as people will be cutting down on carbs to achieve this. May mean that the NHS finally recognises that low-fat is not the way forward.

 

[iHs]

It's also not only the expensive bg teststrips that will be restricted for many insulin dependant people, the restriction will also end up being applied to the expensive analogue bolus/basal insulins. So everyone will only be able to have so many cartridges per month because of the cost and everyone will have to adjust how much food they eat every day so that they don't run out of insulin.

that could be a blessing in disguise as people will be cutting down on carbs to achieve this. May mean that the NHS finally recognises that low-fat is not the way forward.

Yes, you've made a really good point there Paul...........

 

[yipster29]

Hiya

I got the same letter and also had the immediate reaction of being cross as I like my meter and got it to suit my lifestyle. I too, however, did some research and realised the cost implications and went to my appointment with the surgery with a view to embracing whatever they needed me too.
My practice though asked me lots of questions about when I test and what I use the strips for and said they would leave my prescription as it was. They said whilst they wanted to save money, their first target was those (hate to categorise but the Dr said T2s) who test as they think they should and don't change anything!
I said thank you, but I'll take the new meter anyway as it clearly does the same thing and I'm keen to help save money to safeguard what I need for the future!!

 

[noblehead]

Ive decided to embrace this new meter and use it because' it is cheaper for my practice and eventually everyone will only get prescriptions for cheaper testing strips, in the long term more expensive strips will drop in price and a price war will start and we will all eventually get the strips we want at a price that is reasonable

That would be the best outcome all round IMHO, provided the meter was reliable, accurate and you can download the data then I'd be willing to switch, it could be the wake-up call and kick-up the backside the meter companies have needed for a very long time.

 

[BioHaZarD]

What about the argument if we were allowed to test more we would save them more money in the long run as we would require less pills less treatment and surgeries? The stats I am sure are based on pills, insulin, eye and foot surgeries etc. All for the price of test strips?

 

[antmos]

I have also been told that I have to switch to the Nexus Rx meter and was also quite cross about it as I have just bought the iBGStar meter at a cost of £50! I did a bit of research and found out that the GPs have been told to try and get their patients to switch to the Nexus meter as the test strips are cheaper but if you have good reason to keep your current meter then the GP can keep prescribing the test strips for it. I am now in two minds. I want to use my iBGStar meter but the Nexus is also quite a good meter and I will be saving the NHS money. What do you think I should do?

 

[mbudzi]

Hi, could anyone provide a link on where to find the costs of these things to the NHS? My research technique obviously sucks!

 

[CollieBoy]

Hi, could anyone provide a link on where to find the costs of these things to the NHS? My research technique obviously sucks!

try the NHS drug tariff:
http://www.ppa.org.uk/edt/August_2012/mindex.htm
the strips are in section IXR

 

[Superchip]

Lovely quote from Lars-Erik Litsfeldt from his book ' Diabetes? No Thanks! '
About modern dietary advice.

When the Romans sacked Carthage,the city was burned,the population was sold into slavery;the earth was ploughed and,finally covered with salt. I think that we should do likewise with todays dietary advice to diabetics.

Well worth a read ISBN 978-1-908018-01-4

Ha, blooming ExPerts, Ex = has been , Spert = a drip under pressure

Superchip

Sorry for being 'off thread' but that quote made me laugh.......

 

[Superchip]

To mbudzi , Try BNF.org you will pobably have to register, but they give the British National Formulary prices for all drugs.

 

[jopar]

The BNF (British national formula) will give you the national tariff of all drugs, appliances supplied by the NHS..

But with GP's that are swapping their patients to specific meters/test strips you might have to dig around or use a freedom of information request to find out the costings... As these are likely to have negotiated their own contracts of supplies with the company so differing to the BNF national tariff...

For most patients swapping to a different meter isn't a problem, but for some there will be a valid reason why moving to a different meter could be a problem, it could be that the new meter hasn't got the same features available, such as electron log books etc, or perhaps the new member isn't as easy to use or the display may be too small for those who have an sight impairment... Under the circumstances the move to a new meter should be waived and patient allowed to continue with currant set up.

Most pumper's use the same meter manufacturer as their pump, because this enables them to download all the data from pump and meter into their software... In my case my pump handset/remote is also my BG meter and the various wizards are all programmed into the handset and not on the pump itself, and you can't manually enter a BG value into any of the wizards, so to change meters would mean I lose my access to my pump wizards..

 

[Cathy1974]

I have got one of these nexus meters....got it off a friend who didn't need it as she had her accu chek one.
I don't use it. I hate it. It takes a hell of a lot of blood to fill the strip, and it reads very high. And when i say high, I mean rather a large difference. The nexus for example will tell me I am 13, yet the accu chek will tell me I am 8....a huge difference. I hope my GP doesnt' try and make me change to it, as I will be arguing.

 

[Paul_c]

I have got one of these nexus meters....got it off a friend who didn't need it as she had her accu chek one.
I don't use it. I hate it. It takes a hell of a lot of blood to fill the strip, and it reads very high. And when i say high, I mean rather a large difference. The nexus for example will tell me I am 13, yet the accu chek will tell me I am 8....a huge difference. I hope my GP doesnt' try and make me change to it, as I will be arguing.

that's unsafe as you could be taking insulin or other BG lowering drug to bring it down and end up in a hypo.

 

[SamJB]

Looking at that list of prices, unless I read it wrong, the mylife pura test strips are the cheapest. I've just rang them as they do a free starter pack which includes the meter, test strips, lancets and the lancet device. I just ordered it. Anyone used one before??

I've actually never paid for a meter. I'm on my 3rd now (Mylife Pura to be the 4th, if I use it). I often find that they want to give the meter away for free as they make their money on the test strips, so it's worth googling or asking when you call them. Also, if you get the Diabetes UK Balance magazine that there's always free meters in there.

 

[noblehead]

I've actually never paid for a meter. I'm on my 3rd now (Mylife Pura to be the 4th, if I use it). I often find that they want to give the meter away for free as they make their money on the test strips, so it's worth googling or asking when you call them.

They are falling over themselves to give them away, my very first bg meter cost in the region of £100 after which I've never paid for one since, the diabetes clinics were the best place to get a replacement but now anyone can phone the manufacturers for a freebie.