buy testing strips your self !

we cant all afford the extortionate prices some of these firms charge - code free are reasonable tho and i do buy from them and im allowed just two prescriptions a year off the doc.

diment said:

why does every one in the UK think that the government (NHS) should pay for everything ?
you need to look after your self,buy your own test strips,do your own blood tests at the nearest clinic (lab),
we got our selves into this state now its up to us to get better,not depend on NHS for every thing.
the country is going broke,too many people with their hands out.

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1. Most of us didn't "get into this state" by ourselves. Frankly that's an ignorant position.
2. The cost of treating complications for uncontrolled diabetics very probably outweighs the cost of strips (although their prescription should be combined with sensible dietary advice and support).
3. I don't know anything about you, but I'd bet that I pay considerably more tax than you do. By all means punish those who "have their hands out", but don't punish me through a scheme that I honestly donate hundreds of thousands of pounds to.

If you don't want me to contribute to the NHS, then I'll take private medical insurance, but don't expect me to pay into a compulsory scheme, and then not allow me to get paid out when I legitimately ill.

Notionally the cost of the Health Service comes from the taxes we pay or have paid for many years etc.

Currently we pay for our spectacles, teeth (mostly) and currently we seem to be paying for our ongoing diabetes care.

So who's got all the tax money I paid over my 30 years in work.

I don't resent paying for my health since it is important to me. I just resent paying twice.

diment said:

why does every one in the UK think that the government (NHS) should pay for everything ?
you need to look after your self,buy your own test strips,do your own blood tests at the nearest clinic (lab),
we got our selves into this state now its up to us to get better,not depend on NHS for every thing.
the country is going broke,too many people with their hands out.

Click to expand...

Just who do you think you are to judge us? Only judge yourself please, and remember that the reason you are ill isn't necessarily the reason other people are ill! I've paid my national insurance and income tax for many years, so any medication or monitoring tools I have, not just for my diabetes, but for my other conditions too, I have paid for. The NHS is no different to any private medical insurance, we pay our premiums each month and then if we are unfortunate enough to be ill, either acute short term or chronic long term, our national insurance pays for. So, we are not asking for anything that we are not entitled to. There may be people who are diabetic because they are lazy, fat, couch potatoes, who don't work, exercise or eat healthily, however I and hundreds or thousands of others are not one of those! Yes, I'm currently fat, this being due to one or more of the medications I take every day and because I apparently don't eat enough. My dietitian says I eat healthily but not enough calories, and she regularly tells me off for that. I'm also a swimmer and train hard every day, and also enjoy a zumba session every week. Also, I am on thirteen meds a day and have been paying for all my prescriptions, until last month when I discovered that I've been paying for all this time when I could have been having free prescriptions. However, I do still pay for my own test strips and lancets as I have never had these on prescription. No, I didn't ask to be diabetic, I didn't ask to have rubbish kidneys, I didn't ask to have rubbish blood pressure, I didn't ask to have rubbish bowels, and I didn't ask to have angiodysplasia! What about you, are you really diabetic?

diment said:

why does every one in the UK think that the government (NHS) should pay for everything ?
you need to look after your self,buy your own test strips,do your own blood tests at the nearest clinic (lab),
we got our selves into this state now its up to us to get better,not depend on NHS for every thing.
the country is going broke,too many people with their hands out.

Click to expand...

What a ridiculous statement!!! If you feel that way then you go ahead and pay for your own equipment!!

I like many others have not 'inflicted' diabetes upon ourselves! I've had type 1 since I was 9 years old! I work every hour god sends and pay all my taxes and national insurance. So no I'm not paying for any of my equipment! That's the whole point of the NHS that we are cared for and eligable to treatment/equipment!

If it was like America where you had to pay your own stuff via health insurance then fair enough but this is the UK!!

I got my T2 by careless choice of parents! I can't think how I could have avoided that.
I keep my Blood glucose NORMAL by careful diet and thus save the NHS the huge bills they would have if I were to develop complications. If I needed dialysis or an amputation, or a kidney transplant, they'd have to meet those bills. Shortsightedly, they won't prescribe strips to enable me to keep their costs down. Still I have found that buying from the supplier is the most effective way of getting them. Still I know that many strips were going to waste as people were using them and not acting on the information they received. I can see how cutting waste is good, but why didn't they teach people to use the info to keep healthy?
My T1 husband currently has a foot ulcer which is 2cm deep! the GP surgery isn't nomally allowed to supply the best type of dressing for this. We have managed to get a prescription for it with the help of the podiatry department at the hospital. Thing is; the longer this goes on, with dressings required twice a week, the more it costs. Speeding up the healing saves money.
I'm not looking for handouts, But I do think the NHS should start looking ahead more.
Hana

diment said:

why does every one in the UK think that the government (NHS) should pay for everything ?
you need to look after your self,buy your own test strips,do your own blood tests at the nearest clinic (lab),
we got our selves into this state now its up to us to get better,not depend on NHS for every thing.
the country is going broke,too many people with their hands out.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure if you did this to cause upset or you really are green in your knowledge of diabetes. If you read articles on the web and threads in this forum, you will clearly see that the majority of diabetics inherit or develop the disease through no fault of their own. Testing gives those who want to, the ability to try and take control of their problems.

The phrase "help me to keep my gob shut until I know what I am talking about" comes to mind......

as far as health goes i didn't use anything i had paid in for until i was 40. and only then got 1 type of tablets free cos it was a condition that was lifelong.other than that i was 49 before i got any other long term conditions. gradually these were added to over the next 20 years.culminating at the age of 70 with 25 different conditions. i did not do anything to get most of these except smoke. which when i was a youngster was accepted. took me a long time and loads of tries before i finally managed to give up. but i did it. i take out of the system as little as i can/ i dont stay on tablets if i can prove i dont need them/ reduced them from 13 a day to just 3 plus my asthma sprays.painkillers when i need them,and ointment for mild eczema..after a hospital stay in which they ladled tablets out like sweets.i realised that most of which either i did not need or they gave me bad side effects. luckily.so gradually got my doc to stop them one by one.
im type 2 and buy all my strips and lancets and have managed to keep my FBS down to below 7 since beginning of Aug.(was diagnosed a year ago and refused meds till i tried diet only. and this seems to have worked so far but only because ive been able to monitor my blood sugars myself on a daily basis.)have under active thyroid so getting them down low between meals isnt as easy and takes longer for them to go down, usually region of around 8 just before a meal.without the use of strips etc i have no doubt i would most likely be on meds by now. i dont know how much longer i will be able to afford them with cost of living,fuel etc going up so much but will do so as long as i am able.i buy from ebay. usually around £12-14 for 50 strips.unopened,in box. and re-use lancets to keep costs down.

I have often found that when someone has the attitude held by the OP it eventually emerges that they don't apply the same crieria to themselves. Mybe not in the same way but in some other rea of their life they will be doing something which others will be shocked at. Not criminal or morally wrong perhaps something which most people find unacceptable.

of course the NHS can't and don't py for everything. Regarding est strips I cn vouch from personl experience that when they were fre - in fact forced upon T2s many {including myself } were given no useful information or educaion in their use.
We were told that they were purely for us to test at the prescribed time andshow the results to the Dr .

Many of us buy our own strips even when we are allowed them omn prescription { I know I m not alone in this}. We also buy blood pressure monitors on he advice of outr GPs and various other monitors and devices when we are unsure that we can trust the NHS.
As pointed out above the correct use of the strips can save he NHS huge amounts of money.

I don't relly know why we are answering someone who knows so little about dibees that they think it is self inflicted but I suppose we don't want others o take this s fact.

There re mny other conditions where lifestykle is supposed o be involved although this is certainly not always the case.
Would someone , for exmple think it was Ok to post on a forum for lung cancer suffererers and acccuse them of causing the condition themselves?
After all there is a perception that only smokers suffer from this disease - although this ids definitely not the case.

At times we all rant about certin treatments given by he NHS to groups of which we don't approve. Its human nature.
I am so glad he NHS does not judhe becuse assumptions like those made by he OP re often ignorant or ill-informed or
bsed on our knowledge at the time which is lible o change in the future.

I like to think that he human rce is tiny bit superior to the nimls in that we don't shun our sick and old members or even tear them to pieces les hey bring down or slow down he rest of the pack. More and more I begin to see that I am a ****-eyed optimist!

Did we just get trolled?....

Seems the only reasonable explanation for such a thread.

:thumbdown:

kt78 said:

Did we just get trolled?....

Seems the only reasonable explanation for such a thread.

:thumbdown:

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seconded! If it's not a case of trolling then there's some serious education required here about diabetes and about the NHS and who pays for it.

picklebean said:

kt78 said:

Did we just get trolled?....

Seems the only reasonable explanation for such a thread.

:thumbdown:

Click to expand...

seconded! If it's not a case of trolling then there's some serious education required here about diabetes and about the NHS and who pays for it.

Click to expand...

I hink there is more than one about and one at least appers to hve been quite successful.

The post originator says he's from Thailand. He will do well to read: Cost of diabetes and its complications in Thailand: a complete picture of economic burden :

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... x/abstract

This explains the benefits of the availability of test strips compared to the cost of complications.

WE LOVE THE NHS xxx (sometimes! lol!!!) :lol:

Dont have to answer to ignorance. :thumbdown:

Well that was an exciting "we will stand up for what we believe" moment wasn't it? Very meritorious.

FYI In the Republic of Ireland, T1s and T2s get their strips paid for if they have a Medical Card. Otherwise, you can register on a scheme that limits he amount you have to pay for your medicaments to a maximum of about (if I recall) about €120 (£100) per calendar month. I have around 12 or 13 regular tablets (don't go there) plus 2 sorts of insulin and my monthly drugs fee would be well over the threashhold, if I didn't have a Medical Card - the issue of which was pushed through by my GP when I was diagnosed with throat cancer some 6 years ago. (Recently the Government brought in a €0.50 an item fee so I stump up about €9 a month)

I should add that medical expenses are tax deductable (scripts, doctor's fees - around €50 a visit - specialist fees etc)

Robert WT
Long live the memory of Nye Bevan and his legacy - the wonderful NHS (even with it's faults it's still admired all over the world - and copied too) :clap:

Unbeliever said:

picklebean said:

kt78 said:

Did we just get trolled?....

Seems the only reasonable explanation for such a thread.

:thumbdown:

Click to expand...

seconded! If it's not a case of trolling then there's some serious education required here about diabetes and about the NHS and who pays for it.

Click to expand...

I hink there is more than one about and one at least appers to hve been quite successful.

Click to expand...

I agree with this too. I notice he hasn't had the guts to come back and defend his statement too.

I need to point 2 thing sout here:

he may not have come back due to the time difference in Thailand and here.

I was told, and still am being told by my DSN that it is my fault I got Diabetes. She refuses to accept that it is genetic or read the facts I print out for her.

The media portray us type 2's in particular as bringing it on ourselves and being a drain on the NHS though our elf-indulgent and lazy lifestyle.

and yes, people with lung cancer, do suffer this misinformed stigma too.

So how is anyone, diabetic or not, going to believe otherwise initially. and then jumping on these misinformed people is not, I think, fair.

In my defence, I really actually thought they were taking the proverbial - I wasn't trying to be mean.

Then I saw he was from Thailand and posted the link to the article on the economic burden of diabetes there in a genuine attempt to be helpful.

I Agree, we shouldn't jump on people.

Too PC. Did the poster consider any else's feelings. Bit of a sweeping generalisation wasn't it ? There are other ways of requesting information .
It is possible to treat people too sensitively. It encourages them to talke liberties .

Perhaps a litle politeness and a request for informaion rather than the acccusatory tone would have been better?