It's always the problem that testing is presented as something that you do to avoid hypos, not as a means of learning to control and regulate your blood sugar. For most T2s, learning to regulate in this way does not mean 200 strips a month for life, but just an initial amount until they can stabilize their sugars and get a sense of how their body responds to different foods. That is not unaffordable for the NHS.
The importance of using test strips in this manner was stated unambiguously by Sir David Nicholson (the Chief Executive of NHS England), who as a newly diagnosed type 2 was immediately handed a meter and strips. His farewell speech to the NHS contained a lengthy self-congratulatory passage where he praised himself for having dealt with his diabetes by testing systematically until he knew exactly how to control his blood sugars. He used this as an example for his broader solution to the NHS funding crisis -- namely, that patients need to learn to manage their own health. He ignored subsequent emails from diabetics pointing out that this was not a solution available for most other T2s.
Putting HCPs into a position where they tell patients that testing is wrong or unnecessary not only goes against the specific arguments of their own Chief Executive, but creates a situation where they are simply lying to patients. And that, surely, is against the basic principles of medical ethics.
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