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Forced to change to Omnitest 3 Meter

J

jameshallam

Well-Known Member
Messages
109
Hi all,

I went to see my surgery today to get my repeat prescription and they informed my they cannot issue my current prescription of bayer contour test strips as they are enforcing a meter change, they gave me a letter (summerized here)


Now, I fall into the first category as I am a type 1 and test between 5-10 times a day depending on eating, exercise and driving etc. I also have around 5-6 Contour meters in various places (bag, car, work, bedroom, spare etc.) and have a repeat prescription of 300 strips.

The initial change to my repeat was to remove the 300 bayer strips and replace it with 50 Omnitest 3 strips!

The nurse I saw gave me one more prescription of bayer test strips (because the new meters were not available yet), and I have to go back in a months time (I cannot make the date of the clinic) to pick up my new meter and change my prescription. Apparently this is a change that has been enforced by the local PCT and isn't a decision made at the surgury. It sounds like a cost cutting measure as apparently the meters are more expensive but the strips are cheaper...

Has anyone else had something similar happen in their area (I live in SE London)?
Does anyone know my rights as a patient here? I am quite happy with my current set up and don't really want to change over! If I were given one meter, what would I do if it were to break or I lost it?
Does anyone have an Omnitest 3 meter - what is it like to use? I quite like the Contour meter because it is very easy to use, the test strips are not to small or large, it is small and doesn't look ugly!

Cheers all,
James
 
They did this in my area( south wales) late last year, only in my case we were given the Wave Jazz meter and strips, i think a lot of PCT's are doing this to reduce their costs and unless you can show difficulty in using the new meter or need to use a specific meter / pump combination i dont think there is anything you can do.
 
I live in Gloucester and my friend and myself have both been taken off our meters and changed to Glucolab meters because the strips are cheaper. Both of us had trouble with our meters, whether it was the meter or more than likely the strips but we kept getting error messages, mainly the one that said the trip was wet or used when it had come straight out of the tub. This meant that we were using twice as many strips which obviously defeats the object of the cost cutting exercise. Apparently lots of people have complained about the meter so maybe there might be a change of heart. I still have my old meter as a spare as I can buy tubs of 10 test strips which is under £10 and just use them as a back up in order to check the sometimes wildly varying results. I just wish I could have my old meter back full time.
 
Hi James

I just saw your post. . I live in SE London too and have had the same letter you refer to.I am supposed to collect my new Omnitest meter on Friday . I am not happy about it as I am satisfied with my current meters. . how have you found the change. I thought of complaining and asking for repeat prescriptions every 10 days as 50 strips will only last me 10 days. i feel anxious about this change as prior to frequent testing I was vulnerable to serious hypo's. So how are you getting on with the new meter
Ancient.
 
I like the Omnitest 3 it requires a smaller sample size and gives the result in 3seconds. The lancet device is good and painless. I have still to try the data download.


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
This seems to be happening more and more. People don't like change but look at the bigger picture and I think it makes sense. Budgets in the NHS are tight. I'm just happy we still get ANY meter free to be honest. Some have argued their case though and managed to keep their old meter, worth a try. Good luck ! Mo
 
I’m just in the middle of writing a formal letter of complaint to my Doctors as I’ve just had 2 letters in the last week telling me they are changing my pen needles and now my meter without any consultation with me, I bought my contour usb next meter (never had a free one given to me) because it allows me to log carbs etc and I have no intention of using any other so no more blood testing for me so when I go to see the diabetic nurse in the clinic and she asks “how my bloods are doing” I won’t know as the doctor has stopped my test strips which I’m allowed on my prescription and can no longer test my blood
 
After reading peoples experiences of getting or not getting meters from GP I thought i was doing well when my surgery gave me a free meter (FreeStyle Optium Neo) and 50 strips but when i asked for a repeat prescription for the strips i was told we only really give them to people likely to have hypos (i'm on metformin only at the moment, so unlikely) but the DN knows i like to keep track so has given me 50 more as a favour, but not on repeat.. This is nowhere near enough as i am a newish diabetic type 2 and need to keep a track on my sugar levels while the metformin is being gradually increased and to adjust my diet.

The cost of FreeStyle Optium Testing Strips is £19.75/ 50 from Amazon which is too much for me. I have reverted to my own Codefree Meter and Strips as suggested elsewhere on this Forum http://www.diabetes.co.uk/blood-glucose-meters/sd-codefree-blood-glucose-meter.html. The strips cost £7.12 / 50 from Amazon. This is much more doable. I dont know if this meter has enough on it for some of you but it does for me.

I can see that preventing hypos is an immediate priority but its the sugar in the blood which does the damage to the body in the long run so this is of vital importance too as far as i'm concerned.
 

Your right Sheebee it’s the excess sugar in the blood that causes the long term complications, for years I was told that I didn’t need a meter as I was diet controlled and then just on tablets I asked for a meter numerous times I then had to buy my own in the end, only to find the tablets had never worked and was running in the high teens and low twenties constantly which is why I think I now have retinopathy and neuropathy in both my hands and feet, but that is how the meter companies make their money give the doctors free meters to give to patents and then charge the earth for test strips, lancets and testing fluid though I was lucky that way as my doctor gave me them all on repeat prescription from day one of having my meter
 

Thats shocking Malcolm im so sorry to hear you have those complications. I dont understand why they persist in keeping to this philosophy, tho no doubt as you say, its down to money and money grabbing drug companies.
 
Just a quick update from my post last Friday, I put my complaint letter in to the doctors Fri afternoon and received a phone call on Monday asking if I could go in and see the practice manager today, turns out that they had changed everyone over to the new meters, test strips and lancets, as she put it was a blanket decision to cover all the diabetics on their list but if any patent did not wish to change they were no obliged too ( but they did not say that in the letter) I think they were hoping that no-one would object, so I have kept my meter and they will continue to prescribe my test strips and lancets as before.
So if anyone gets a letter from their doctors telling them they are changing their meter, lancets and test strips put in a formal letter of complaint stating you are allowed your test strips and lancets on prescription for your meter and see what they do

Copy of the letter I sent to the doctors
"To Admin at Stanley Medical Group (as no-one could be bothered to sign the letters I do not know who to address this reply to)
I am writing this formal letter of complaint as I have received two letters from your practice in recent days, about my Insulin Pen Needles and my Blood Glucose Meter and test strips, that you have decided to change without any consultation with myself I do not care which needles I use for my Insulin Pen, But I bought my Contour Next USB as it allows me to log both my insulin and Carbohydrates on the meter and compare them with my blood readings and I have no intention of using any other meter, I will not be attending the clinic, I will not be collecting a Omnitest 3 Test Meter from the practice nurse, if I cannot test my blood because you will not prescribe me with the test strips I need (which I am allowed on Prescription) that is your responsibility and any outcomes or repercussions thereof will be also be your responsibility."
 
Hi having been seen by the Somerset Diabetic Nurse for the area she set me up with a super meter which if my bloods are above the limit it tells me the dose I need for short acting insulin as mixes don't work for me,as I have to many hypos on them so far since I have had this meter my bloods have remained stable within my 4.5 to 7.5 mmol and I have felt so good, now I get a letter telling me to collect a meter and not to use my old meter as the prescriptions will no longer be available for my meter. I am not happy and will now write to my Doctor and say I am not happy.
 
Hi
i guess i will have to write a letter myself as i have just received a letter from my GP practice saying i have been changed to the omnican 3 meter and my lancets have been changed to omnican lance soft (horrible lancet device, it is brutal and not soft at all) and my novopen needles are being changed to omnican fine. i will be telling them that i don't want their machine or lancets or needles and if they insist that i cannot have my regular prescription of test strips, needles and lancets then i will not be testing my sugars again and when my novopen needles run out i will not inject insulin either, and so ketoacidosis here i came the NHS better have a very, very expensive intensive care bed ready! i used to be in and out of hospital regularly with my asthma and my other lung disease and my other multiple health problems including high BG and ketoacidosis because of high doses of prednisalone steroids etc. but i now have my hba1c in the normal range with multiple BG test a day but if the nhs wants all that to change they can just pick up the bill
 
Hi I made an appointment with my doctor and said that I was not happy about the enforcement of the new meters she said she didn't have any thing to do with the actual meter enforcement but said I could stay with my present meter and test strips. So please go and see your doctor who has the final say as to what meter you use. I hope you all get the result you want.
 
Our practice changed everyone to the jazz meter which i did not like so did research on strip prices for other meters as this is what is driving this pct change.Found the TrueYou meter strips were the same price as Jazz ones so rang manufacturer and they kindly sent me a meter to try ,it takes a small drop of blood and pricker quite good too only thing missing for me is the lack of backlight. This meter and kit comes in a really small kitbag perfect for pocket etc. Took all this info to GP who said "you really have done your homework" and changed strip repeats to that right way the meter maker allowed me another one free as no one should only have one alone if on insulin
Its the trueyou mini I have hence the nice small kit case
 
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How did you get on with the omnitest 3 was you able to use it with a laptop
 
It's not too bad, i have never tried to use it with a laptop but it doesn't have any connections to suggest this is possible.

The small annoyances:
It's upside down (in comparison to the Bauer contour) in still not used to this even after using for c. 2 years
The strips come in pots of 25 - the pots run out very quickly.
 
The omnitest 3 set is brilliant, do not be concerned, granted individual strips have to be loaded in, but it is very quick and easy, just a small push in and it turns the machine on. It takes in tiniest bit of blood and gives you a result in 3 seconds. The lancet is also much better than my previous one, I was up to 4 on the depth on the old one but can get blood out with number 1 on the new omni one. I dont use a computer with it but it says you need an interface cable and link to an online diary, looks easy enough, it gives a web page for info, www.omnitestcenter.com.
 
I had my meter and strips changed in June this year 2016 to the Omnitest 3 can;t say I was thrilled, have not used it yet as I have a stockpile of my Accu Chek strips and I am in the process of stockpiling the new strips. My biggest gripe is the nurses are always telling me I only need to test a couple of times a week. When I say how do I know what is happening with my sugars they tell me they know by my HBA1C which is only done once a year so they only have the snapshot of 120 days out of 365 does anyone think that that is good enough. My diabetic doc at the practice is horrible I dislike him intensely. I will use the meter as I would not cut off my nose to spite my face unlike the person who is having a hissy fit about the change. I feel as long as keep as healthy as I possibly can, it really does not matter which meter I use.
 
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