• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Freestyle Libre Sensor On Prescription Ordered, Fingers Crossed!

L

Lord Kram

Member
Messages
11
Months ago when I found out about this was pretty exciting to say the least and seeing more posts resently I’ve been looking into getting this for quite a while now
As the starter packs are really expensive thought this was out of the question, but forgot there was an iPhone app that does virtually the same as the reader so I decided to try and order a sensor though my Pharmacy2U
Only thing I need to worry about is whether my surgery/GP will authorise it due to the “postcode lottery” of funding
Will be exciting if it goes through and will help me so much get better with my readings at work especially
Anyone else used Pharmacy2U for theirs with success?
 
Hello @Lord Kram If you are looking to the NHS to offer this to you on prescription then you will need to see your diabetic nurse first to see if you are eligible for funding and to authorise this for you, otherwise you can self fund and purchase direct from somewhere like Superdrug who are currently retailing it at £35.
 
i assumed this would be the case, whenever I have ordered something before that might be a problem my surgery or the pharmacy have rung me up regarding the order, and as I recently saw my DSN I’m sure I’ll prob get contacted regarding the order.
Normally my surgery are pretty good getting stuff sorted for me, just have to wait and see if they authorise it
 
This webpage has a map on it showing which CCGs have agreed funding, if you scroll down the page a bit you can find it, and see what's going on in your area. It's probably not 100% accurate. But if you find which CCG covers your area, you can google them, and freestyle libre, and see what their current policy is on it.

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/get_involved/campaigning/flash-glucose-monitoring

Hope you are in one of the good areas. I'm lucky I can get it on prescription, and it's been very useful, massively improved my blood sugar control. It did take a few months to get really good, though. You will have a new level of data to use to make decisions with.

If your CCG aren't funding it at the moment it's a bit annoying, so feel to write them a letter of complaint. After all NICE recommendations are that people with T1D should aim for an HbA1c of less that 6.5%. It's extremely hard to that without better technology, so it's ridiculous some aren't funding it.
 
@Alison54321 thats an interesting post thanks for sharing
Looking at the map it seems I am in an area that is funded for flash monitoring, I suppose I may need to see my nurse again to actually initiate the prescription, we will see
 
Not really pertinent to the thread but found this on my CCG's response page..

"Self-funded patients who don’t meet the initiation criteria can continue to self-funding if they choose to do so."

That's big of them eh? As well as being rather appalling English..
 
Lord Kram said:
@Alison54321 thats an interesting post thanks for sharing
Looking at the map it seems I am in an area that is funded for flash monitoring, I suppose I may need to see my nurse again to actually initiate the prescription, we will see
Click to expand...

Now that would be extremely good news.
 
How do you get it for £35? Can you order them online from Superdrug?
 
Hi @KateMeg call your local Superdrug pharmacy first to order then take in your NHS card when you collect
 
This shows CCG who have agreed to funding for SOME people who comply to certain (probably very specific) criteria.
Just because your CCG have agreed to fund them, does not mean they agree to fund it for everyone.

For example, it was explained to me that my CCG are only funding for people with type 1 diabetes and very high HbA1C. They are using this to collect evidence that it adds value ... they only use hBA1C to measure value to people with diabetes; they don't measure things like number of hypos or ability to interpret the results on the Libre or willingness to change their diabetes care or ...
 

Not all CCGs are that stingy, it's very variable. Though some are even worse, some are better than yours. It's small steps forward. In a year or two, I suspect the laggards will look very bad, because the evidence of value will start to be overwhelming.
 


I was very lucky that my health board are issuing the Libre but they are issuing them very slowly, only around 12 per month

It was explained by my DSN that I met the criteria, for Lanarkshire, The criteria was I had attended a DAFNE course, was testing 8 times or more per day. Also people with little hypo awareness meet the criteria.

The data the Libre provides is invaluable helping to make adjustments to diet and injections as required without the pain of constant finger pricking
 

The irony re testing 8+times a day. If you self fund and then go back to finger pricking, believe me you hit that easily as you just feel you are flying blind.
 
North east CCG being very tight over funding, even though my consultant agrees that Libre has transformed my diabetic control, because I no longer finger prick 8 times a day, don't have uncontrolled hypo's etc etc I no longer meet the criteria for funding. I wonder how many of the panel who sit on these boards are Type 1's who have to finger prick every day ? Not many I bet.
 
becca59 said:
The irony re testing 8+times a day. If you self fund and then go back to finger pricking, believe me you hit that easily as you just feel you are flying blind.
Click to expand...
Agreed. I used to self fund but had to stop because the libre no longer agrees with my body. (Continuous readings of LO despite normal blood sugars on multiple sensors and even a replacement meter.) Am contemplating the dexcom. Ironically you could argue that the libre was bad for me, as once my hba1C goes from 7 to 6.5 I have significantly reduced hypo awareness.... Grrr. I believe dexcom has alarms, though, so once I've been 12 months without an assisted hypo I'll probably defy my specialist and go back to a lower hba1C with a dexcom. (Am hoping that if I can fend off hypos early enough I won't lose hypo awareness.)
 
Don't mean to bump the thread but just thought i'd update everyone
Had initial worries after ordering through the pharmacy as i didn't hear anything back for days, rang up my surgery and apparently they had already tried to contact me regarding the prescription, but couldn't as they had my old number on record!
Turns out they wanted to speak to me as it was a first request for a new item they needed to confirm whether i actually needed it or not I explained what it was and said it lasts for 14 days etc and pharmacy only let you order a certain item within a set time period, so the woman on the phone said she'd change the order to 2x so i'd only have to order once a month!
The request went through to my GP, and today I got confirmation from my pharmacy that my GP has approved it and will be dispatching soon!
Can't express how pleased I am about this, and am super excited to get going! This will change things considerably for my life!
 
Pleased for you but did your diabetic consultant agree that you should get the Libre or has your GP just decided on their own ? My understanding is that you have to get approved by your consultant before your GP can get this on prescription.
 
I got mine recently but that was after a recommendation by my DSN to my GP that I met the criteria for the Libre
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…