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Are there any organisations that could use old insulin pumps?

Z

zand

Master
Messages
10,882
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
A friend has an old Tandem T Slim pump, still in perfect condition but the NHS doesn’t want it back and my friend doesn't use it anymore. I believe they cost around £2K and it seems such a waste to throw it out. I wondered if there was an organisation or someone they could donate it to ? Does anyone know of somewhere that could put it to good use?

Thanks
 
Hi @zand ,

Hope yer well..
Don’t quote me on this but the average lifespan of a pump to use safely is around 4/5 years?

I know there was a charity helping with donations to diabetics in the Ukraine..
Your friend could try that route?

Best wishes.
 
Thank you, that's something I hadn't heard of before.
 
Thank you
 
Great question. What a waste to toss it!

I've heard of people using the same pump for upwards of 6 years. They are self funded here and not everyone has a spare 7K just sitting around.

The 4-5 years is not a realistic assessment of the lifetime of a pump. Pump manufacturers run a line between short enough to get the most repeat business and long enough to obtain approval.

Hope you can find a good home, however unfortunately anyone who gets it will probably be unable to get HCP support for a second-hand pump.

Edit: I missed the 'organisations'. That would probably be able to side-step my last point.
 
Last edited:
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