• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Annual Review Opt Out

U

UserNamesAreForLosers

Member
Messages
5
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi, does anybody know how i could go about opting out of the Annual review?

I have mentioned many times to the receptionists over at least 3 years that i don't want to do it, but they just ignore what i say and keep phoning me constantly until i give in to get a bit of peace. I find the reviews a compete waste of time, in i never get told any results and i know my blood glucose anyway as i test numerous times every day. My health is a real struggle and i hate leaving the house because i know i will get racist abuse every single time without fail. Every time i go outside i'm so wound up waiting for somebody to say or do something. I now refuse to talk to strangers and if somebody is in the way i just barge through them. I'm done with being polite, then being treated like dirt, being polite with people in this country is like trying to teach a crocodile how to play snooker. Completely futile. It wouldn't be so bad, but at my gp surgery they can never get any blood so it's a waste of time even trying. Then i have to get the bus to the hospital, which feels like pure hell for me. I'm 100% done with this country, no idea what i'm going to do but i just want to avoid people as much as possible until i figure it all out. i have more important things to plan than a pointless exercise into hell just for a pointless blood test for which i never get told any results anyway. I know the surgery only do it to get paid, it's so frustrating. Also they call it an "Annual Review", yet they always phone me up about 5 months after i had the last one! Then the receptionists get annoyed with me for not making an appointment.

I feel like taking legal action to get this madness to stop. All i want is to get my insulin and be left alone in peace.
 
Last edited:
Hi @UserNamesAreForLosers and welcome to the forums.

There have been a couple of threads about this before. I believe @In Response has managed to opt out? But I think you probably do need to have a review at the hospital if you don't get reviewed by the GP because they still need to check for diabetic complications such as neuropathy. Are you getting annual eye checks also?
 
I strongly believe that to receive the amount of medication we do we should have to jump through the hoops required of us, no matter how irritating they are. I for one am very grateful to be in a system where people want to see me, give me tests to keep me healthy and not present me with a bill at the end.
 
I opted out of my GP yearly review as I get my review done at my hospital appointments. My GP was only happy to let me opt out because I still get checked at the hospital. I do think the reviews are vital as they can pick up on things that you may not even realize are a problem, I don't think a review once a year is that bad I mean when I was younger I had 3 monthly hospital appointments so the year ones are a breeze in comparison.
 
Are you just disliking invitations to the GP surgery 'annual review'? Do you have appointments to see the diabetes nurses at the hospital and the diabetes consultant at the hospital?
If the hospital team sees you regularly, then it is perfectly safe not to have checks in your GP surgery.
 
Hi @UserNamesAreForLosers, it looks to me that you’re finding the Annual Review is the last straw. Your situation seems both situationally draining and psychologically sad.
Whilst I agree with the others that an review is necessary as when done well it can give a good indication of things we can’t see without tests, I feel that maybe you also need to reach out for general human contact.
Are there any people you know with whom you can talk about the social threats you feel when out of your house?
Is there an opportunity to transfer to another GP in a different surgery?
Sometimes we just need a sympathetic person, an offer to share, a good human, and medical connection.
 
Hi,

Welcome to the forum.

How long have you been diabetic?
You test numerous times every day. If you’re not using a sensor as well. You are entitled to them on prescription…

I find these appointments a pain myself. However the benefits out weigh what would happen if I slipped through the system.
 
Well said.totally agree.
 
I never miss the “annual” (more like 15 to 18 monthly) review at the hospital clinic with an endo and DSN who know what Type 1 is and can provide tech like an insulin pump and provide tips for managing my BG during 3 hour rock climbing session.

I used to completely opt out of the twice-yearly review at my GP surgery but they still invited me every 6 months. Eventually, I gave in. I had my blood tests and met the surgery based DSN. I very quickly discovered p she knew very little about Type 1 and nothing about my insulin pump. For example, she asked how much short acting (it depends what I eat and do) and long acting (none with a pump) I use and whether I have ever (in 20 years) had a hypo.
Since then, I take the offer of blood tests every 6 months which I check on the NHS app. But decline the appointment. I believe the surgery gets a “reward” for my low HbA1C and I get a regular check that kidney, liver, cholesterol, etc. are all ok.
 
Thanks for the interesting replies. I've been a type 1 for about 15 years. The thing that really annoys me is the total lack of any consultation from my gp at all. It's just every 5 months, they phone me up and tell me i HAVE to make this pointless appointment. They can never offer me an afternoon appointment, presumably because the blood has to be sent before a certain time, but i never get the blood test there anyway! Because i know they can never get any. Literally not once in 15 years have they EVER got any blood from me. All that happens at this "review" is i get my blood pressure checked. I can do that inside 30 seconds at home. Then i go to the hospital, get a blood test, then that's it for 5 months. No results, no feedback, no point.

I did used to go to the hospital to see the consultant, but once he said he had made a mistake and i was on the wrong insulin and he was very apologetic about it. I made a joke about suing him. He seemed to take it as a joke, but I never got offered another appointment after that, so i just left it.
 
flonvic said:
Well said.totally agree.
Click to expand...

I strongly disagree to be honest. Over the years i have paid over £1m in taxes. The NHS aren't giving me anything "free".
I think that should entitle me to medicine i need to not die, without feeling i owe anybody anything.
 
@UserNamesAreForLosers
Time to change your GP. Your GP should be given results by the hospital, or at least have a system where they can access your test results online: our version is Patient Access. I believe GPs and DSNs have a version that includes more data.
There’s a list of diabetes checks that need to be done, you’ll find it on NICE, and if your surgery, or hospital, are failing to do these then you have grounds for a complaint.
 
UserNamesAreForLosers said:
I did used to go to the hospital to see the consultant, but once he said he had made a mistake and i was on the wrong insulin ... .... so i just left it.
Click to expand...
I get the impression that you do not even see the diabetes specialist nurses at the hospital. May I suggest that you contact the consultant's secretary to ask for an another appointment. At the hospital that I attend, the DSNs work together with the consultant, as a team. That means that they will talk to each other, so that if I have an appointment with the nurse, she will be able to ask the consultant for her opinion. I would expect appointments every six/12 months. If you don't see anyone at the hospital at the moment, then your GP needs to refer you to an endocrine consultant.
 
If you have worked for say 50 years? and assume you are counting your NI as taxes you would have earned £100k on average, 49 years ago that was an awful lot of money, perhaps enough for some cab fare so to avoid the bus? I assume you live in an affluent area? These areas do tend to have choices in which GP practice you visit, as your current practise cannot even get taking blood right, definitely look at changing. racist abuse you receive every time you leave the house? This is disgraceful, illegal and to be honest not tolerated in the UK, have you contacted the police? I understand you hate this inpolite country but you will still be protected, even by losers with usernames like me, I wish you the best of everything you deserve.
 
Again, here we go with the assumptions of the average person in this country.

I ran my own internet business for 20 years. I've never had a driving lesson, nor had any remote interest in driving. I get nervous tics and have floaters in my eyes that have been there constantly since i was about 6 years old, so have never fancied driving. I could have £700bn in the bank, i still wouldn't be driving. Of course i can get a cab, but 50% of the time i order one i'm left there waiting and it just doesn't turn up. It happened when i booked a covid jab. A rough estimate, i have been racially abused comfortably over 100,000 times in my life. Nearly all by complete strangers i don't even know and wouldn't even recognise. Often shouted from passing cars i don't even see until they are long gone. If you seriously expect me to phone the police every time this happens, then that says a lot about you. As does getting all upset about my jokey throwaway username.
 
Upset? Only one of us are upset here, my life is terrific! I’m sorry your life sounds awful even with the millions, not sure who told you to learn to drive but hope you have some better luck in the future. Assuming you are 50 You’ve been racially abused over 5 times a day, that’s terrible you should report that
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…