Why would I finger prick more than 8 times a day when scanning with my sensor provides more useful information on trends?
I don't think the RMOC guidelines expect you to prick 8 times a day after you get libre. I read them as meaning if you are pricking 8 times a day at the moment, then you should get libre to save you having to prick so much.
I'd be tempted to just give my meter to my nephew and say, "look, kid, there's a tenner for you if just do this 8 times a day for the next few weeks, deal?"
Partha Kar, who is fairly high up in the NHS diabete world, and has done a lot to push the libre message, has tweeted that the RMOC guidelines are a good base to work from, but this is just the beginning and he expects the rules to be loosened as time goes by and more evidence comes in.
I'm lucky enough to live in Edinburgh which has one of the most liberal policies anywhere - if you're T1 and want it, you get it.
Because so many of us have been using it for a while now, the area has been pushing out some numbers. They're going to be doing a fuller paper, but initial results are showing some amazing figures, numbers coming in below 48 a1c have almost doubled, numbers above 75 have almost halved, and reductions across the entire range - see pic below.
ABCD is also inviting data submissions from across the country for a national audit, dealing not only with a1c, but also dka and hypo admissions and call-outs. I'd be surprised if that audit didn't show similsr results to the Edinburgh one.
It's taking time, but I think it will reach a point where the evidence is so overwhelming about how libre engages patients, makes them more interested in their levels, and lets them safely reduce a1c, and generally be more content, that prescribers will be asking why they didn't loosen up the rules earlier.