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Freestyle libre request

catapillar said:
So unlikely there will be any change in the short term.
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Interesting, thanks for the info. I'm not really that surprised.

The more I look into it, the more angry I get. Was it Abbott who first made the announcement, obviously in their interest if they were on prescription but never likely being a reality. I see some authorities are even suggesting that they do not have proof that it improves HbA1c. I wonder who they asked?
 
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Will there be a croud funded court case to try to force the CCGs to provide funding a per the NICE aproval of the libre?
 
ringi said:
Will there be a croud funded court case to try to force the CCGs to provide funding a per the NICE aproval of the libre?
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There isn't NICE approval of the libre, that's the point. It hasn't had a NICE appraisal, nor is there any indication that one is planned.

There have been NICE appraisals of CGMs. The NICE guidelines on CGMs are not to routinely offer them and to only consider if there is hypo unawareness and multiple severe hypos requiring ambulance/hospitalisation. Even then, a CGM requires an individual funding request and it's not unheard of for CCGs to decline. I know my CCG is very anti-CGM and although I was told I was at high risk of dead in bed syndrome due to my complete hypo unawareness and a history of severe hypos overnight, so a CGM was definitely clinically indicated, there was no point making an IFR because there were patients who could not work and required regular car due to loss of hypo awareness who had applied and not been funded. So I self funded my CGM, and it's currently being NHS funded via the hospital rather than the CCG.
 
ringi said:
Will there be a croud funded court case to try to force the CCGs to provide funding a per the NICE aproval of the libre?
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Very doubtful, it would be money down the drain. I actually saw a diabetic specialist for the first time in 20 years of having diabetes and apart from her offering me a book on low carb diets (they're getting there) she mentioned that she had been on a training course offered by Abbott for "experts" to attend. Her feelings were that it would never be available on prescription because of the cost and also the availability of finger pricking and test strips. The FS Libre is a luxury in their eyes but I know how much difference it makes to my control which is now diet only and work in progress.
 
barrym said:
Can you post the contents? We're not all FB users
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I hope I'm not breaking some copyright law. This is as it appears except for a bit at the end which wasn't relevant to obtaining the FS Libre sensors. I will check if my pharmacist is going to charge for filling a private prescription and more importantly will my GP want £15 for a private prescription. (£15 seems to be a standard fee for her autograph).

As well as being a freestyle libre user, I'm also a community pharmacist. I thought the following might be useful information:

Although the libre sensors are, in theory, available on NHS prescription, very few GP's will be able to prescribe them due to cost pressure on their local health system (the CCG has a very strong influence on what prescribers can write on a prescription). However...

Pharmacies will now able to obtain supplies of the libre sensor from Abbott, at the cost of £35 or so (whatever has been quoted as the NHS price, I forget the exact figure).

So... if you can persuade your GP to write you a private prescription for libre sensor(s), it may work out cheaper to have this dispensed by your local pharmacy than to buy them direct from Abbott.

(In case you're not aware, a private prescription is one where you have to pay for the cost of the medicine or appliance, rather than it being paid for by the NHS).

This doesn't mean they will cost £35, as the pharmacy will add a fee for dispensing the item. This varies hugely from pharmacy to pharmacy: for some pharmacies it might be a fixed fee, for others it might be a percentage of the price of the item. There is huge variation from pharmacy to pharmacy.

I should also add that it isn't quite straight forward for the pharmacy to just order a libre sensor from their usual wholesaler like they would with other items (e.g insulin, BG test strips etc). Abbott will only supply pharmacies direct, when they have set up an account with them. This palaver might take a few days, but once it's set up, it's set up.

If you shop around, I think it should be possible to get them for around £40 each, if your GP is prepared to write you a private prescription (some GP's will charge a fee for this) and you can find a pharmacy that doesn't charge too much in dispensing fees.
 
catapillar said:
I know my CCG is very anti-CGM and although I was told I was at high risk of dead in bed syndrome due to my complete hypo unawareness and a history of severe hypos overnight, so a CGM was definitely clinically indicated, there was no point making an IFR because there were patients who could not work and required regular car due to loss of hypo awareness who had applied and not been funded. So I self funded my CGM, and it's currently being NHS funded via the hospital rather than the CCG.
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The short sightedness of this approach is crazy really. But I guess the CCG may not pay for the carer, the local social services bill has to cover that, where they would have to pay for the CGM.... So as far as they're concerned it's not their issue. Nothing like joined up healthcare. I think I'd look at tracking down whoever pays for the carers and offering them an alternative lower cost solution that has official guidance as being appropriate...

@DavidGrahamJones - I think this is worth having a conversation with both your GP and Pharmacist about. Most are receptive to providing better care and if there is a way to do so within the rules, I think you'll be able to swing them around. I'd certainly try it if Dexcom Sensors were on the NHS Drug Tariff.
 
David, Thanks for that. Nice it of lateral thinking. Obvious really but I'd never have thought of it.
 
barrym said:
David, Thanks for that. Nice it of lateral thinking. Obvious really but I'd never have thought of it.
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I'll put it to the test over the next few days. Tied up with some things that need doing in Portsmouth (86 miles away).
 
lely said:
Hi All. I've just called my gp, waiting on a call back, to log my interest in getting the freestyle libre from 1st November.
Not sure if I'm gonna be given it but I'm gonna try my best negotiations to get one if there is resistance.
Has anyone else requested one from Nov 1st and been told yes/no.
I'm in Northwest England.
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