End of warranty & no replacement

My Medtronic Veo is now a few months older than 4 years and therefore no longer under warranty . This is not good but the NHS Trust who provided it and who continue to fund the consumables have a policy which is effectively "fix/replace on fail" rather than being proactive and replacing pumps once the warranty expires.

I find the situation particularly worrying as whilst in warranty I had a pump fail on me which was replaced within hours of me reporting it to Medtronic - and that was on a Sunday.

If my pump fails now, I would have to call a telephone number - which is attached to an answering machine - wait for my message to be picked up and then go through whatever processes my Trust has in place for replacing failed units with new ones. Past experience tells me that when my existing pump fails (and it will at some point, nothing lasts forever), it will fail during a weekend or at the start of some big Bank Holiday period.

Of course, I have the backup of insulin pens and needles but with those comes all the rigmarole of trying to fathom out doses of long acting and short acting insulin - not happy!

Is this situation common and perhaps more importantly, is there anything I can do to insist that the Trust replace my out of warranty pump given that when I started with it, I was told that I would get a new one - and a chance to choose another model - at the end of the warranty period.

Alan

@Noblehead - Thanks for the bump
@Lucipieee - Thank you for the reply

I don't recall signing anything to be honest and yes, I have reminded those who I have spoken to, (my consultant and DSN), about the policy at the time which as I said, was to provide a new pump at the end of the warranty. Response - "that was the policy at the time". End of discussion.

The DSN is stuck with what the Trust tell her to say and goes into a script which includes words to the effect that washing machines often carry on once their warranty period has ended. :crazy:
I am afraid that those who make and implement these policies simply do not understand or appreciate the way a T1 insulin pump user lives his/her life and the only balance sheet they are concerned with involves money and not carbs! It really does go against the grain when a health trust is operating a "fix on fail" policy rather than one to "prevent and keep the wheels turning".

As for expressing "..the danger of you having to wait for a replacement ". This will not wash either - I have backup insulin pens, needles and a supply of long acting insulin in the fridge. The real frustrating thing for me is that when the pump fails, there will be:

• a panic period which will probably start on a Friday evening prior to a Bank Holiday Monday
  an 'out of optimum control' period for me
  a lot of running around to deliver the failed pump for testing by the Trust's medical equipment department
  a wait of goodness knows how long for a new pump to be ordered
  more running around to collect the new pump when it is delivered. (My trust insists that all new devices get tested by themselves before issue to patients.

How much money are they going to save? Not a clue but not as much as they think I suspect which will be a tiny drop in the ocean for their budget but a drop with big consequences for this individual.

Alan