Chance for YOU to help end the diabetes care postcode lotter

[saz1902]

Re: Chance for YOU to help end the diabetes care postcode lo

Hello! Yes to all except 8. I smoke and have been trying to quit for some time, but never been offered advice. Bn3.

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

 

[desidiabulum]

Re: Chance for YOU to help end the diabetes care postcode lo

Many thanks to all who responded -- 45 replies in total including Another Place, now dispatched to DUK.
Thanks Sid for the ref. I'm only responding to a DUK Diabetes Information Network Alert, so assume they felt they needed further information. I'm hoping to encourage them to engage more with diabetes forums such as this one.

 

[iHs]

Re: Chance for YOU to help end the diabetes care postcode lo

Hi Sid. Thanks for answering the questionnaire earlier. DUK has reported before their sense that in some parts of the country significant numbers of diabetics are not receiving all the checks that they should be. This is their latest initiative to try to get a sense of which parts of the country are faring worst in this respect, so that they can target them for more effective lobbying.

Thanks for your answer Desi, I would imagine that if DUK are aware of problems then they will already be aware of the areas in question as it can be very easily checked via the QOF reports, I believe there is a web site that breaks down the country if not doctor by doctor then certainly health care trust by trust, I cant find the link at present but I know it has been posted here before possibly by Catherine.

It listed every area so you could check your area to see how they compared to other surgerys, hopefully someone will read this and post the link, if not I will try and find it tomorrow if I get the chance, Im sure it will be just what you are looking for. :thumbup:

When this link was posted a while back... I saved it in my email folder as a 'draft' I then looked up my own GP surgery to see how well they were doing regarding diabetes.....

http://www.qof.ic.nhs.uk/search/index.asp

 

[Sid Bonkers]

Re: Chance for YOU to help end the diabetes care postcode lo

When this link was posted a while back... I saved it in my email folder as a 'draft' I then looked up my own GP surgery to see how well they were doing regarding diabetes.....

http://www.qof.ic.nhs.uk/search/index.asp

Thats the one iHs, thanks ive now saved the link myself for future reference.

Out of interest I checked my own GP surgery and see that out of the 15 indicators for diabetes they scored 97.2% getting 89.44 out of 92 whatever that means :lol:

Doesnt sound too bad to me, although they did score 100% in most other areas...

 

[Megagem]

Re: Chance for YOU to help end the diabetes care postcode lo

I am a Non smoker - but yes to all other questions - and after considerable lobbying I get 50 free Bayer Contour Next test strips a month - you have to be persistent !

 

[bobandpat]

Re: Chance for YOU to help end the diabetes care postcode lo

1,3,4,5 Yes

2, Checked every year but no discussion about it - don't even know if it's good or bad. 130/80'ish

6, No - urine test last done 3 or 4 years ago.

7, Check my weight but never measured my waist. Luckily I'm actually losing a bit of weight through exercise

8, Don't smoke

9, No

Post code is WF12

 

[Sid Bonkers]

Re: Chance for YOU to help end the diabetes care postcode lo

Hi Sid Bonkers,

I didn't count them but, the nays seem higher than the yays for question number nine.

Do you not consider it important to have a discussion with a professional about how best to approach the management of your Diabetes?

Not having such a discussion might not be neglect but, it may be considered irresponsible and certainly, at the very least, unprofessional?

If these people are getting their feet checked and their weight recorded and their HbA1c's then they are talking to their doctor/nurse/endo so Q. 9 is being addressed, feet checks are not done without a diabetic appointment. I think some people are just being pedantic or dont understand the question.

Have you checked your surgery out using the link that was posted? If your surgery is not cutting it then ask them why.

 

[Weens12]

Re: Chance for YOU to help end the diabetes care postcode lo

When this link was posted a while back... I saved it in my email folder as a 'draft' I then looked up my own GP surgery to see how well they were doing regarding diabetes.....

http://www.qof.ic.nhs.uk/search/index.asp

The link above is only relevant to England, for QOF data for other UK countries , follow the links on page

http://www.qof.ic.nhs.uk/faqs/

my GP practice scores 91.8 out of 92

 

[Weens12]

Re: Chance for YOU to help end the diabetes care postcode lo

Sid Bonkers wrote:
<snip>
"If these people are getting their feet checked and their weight recorded and their HbA1c's then they are talking to their doctor/nurse/endo so Q. 9 is being addressed, feet checks are not done without a diabetic appointment. I think some people are just being pedantic or dont understand the question."
<snip>


Hi Sid Bonkers,

I'm sure that you didn't really mean to insult some of those posters who took the time to reply to this questionnaire......
But, have you considered the possibility that it could be YOU who didn't understand the question?

As I see it, the phrase:
"Develop your personal health and care plan with your doctor, to meet your own needs"
could easily be construed in different ways. What makes you SO SURE that your interpretation is the ONLY/RIGHT one?

Questionnaires are notoriously difficult to get right. Only the person who wrote it can really say what was intended.

FYI... My interpretation is that this "plan" may be intended as additional to having feet checked, HBA1c recorded etc.,
i.e. an agreed treatment plan that is tailored to the individual needs of each patient, (meds, diet, BG and other targets and a discussion on how best to achieve them etc.,) and not a "one size fits all" approach. (This certainly wasn't my experience, much more the "one size fits all", and I accept it may well be wishful thinking on my part, but my point is that the phrase is ambiguous). I hasten to add that I'm not asserting that my take on it is the right or only one, and I'm sure that others may have yet other interpretations.

We all have different experiences, so how we responded to Q9 will necessarily be influenced by those experiences.
I rest my case.

 

[desidiabulum]

Re: Chance for YOU to help end the diabetes care postcode lo

Hi all. Question 9 is simply the text of the last of Diabetes UK's 9 checks. Since DUK list it separately they presumably do not think that it is contained within the other 8 checks. I'm all for considering multiple interpretations, but in this case it really is pretty straightforward and unambiguous, and is precisely as Weems12 understands it. The development plan discussion may be very brief (my consultant usually just says 'So we agree that you're aiming for an hba1c around 6.5 with current meds?' and I make a non-committal response) but it is there and it is a distinct part of the review.
Many thanks to Sid, though, for the link. :thumbup:
Just to clarify, by the way, the deadline for responding to the questionnaire is now past, but many thanks to all who contributed.

 

[Weens12]

Re: Chance for YOU to help end the diabetes care postcode lo

Thanks for clarifying the intended meaning, desidiabulum.

Thanks too, for starting this discussion and collating the replies. I do hope it will help DUK to bring pressure to bear nationally to ensure that those areas where diabetes care is not conforming to the 15-point QOF plan are addressed. It should be the minimum care received by all UK diabetics regardless of where they live.

I found it very useful discussion as it taught me more about what I should expect of my diabetes care, and thus has highlighted the good care that I do receive from my GP practice, for which I am very grateful. There's always room for improvement though