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Got my NHS prescription for Libre!


Yes go back to your doctor and ask for a handwritten script. It didn't come up on the computer at my doctors either.

Re pharmacy, I went to my usual one and they said the wholesaler won't open an account with Abbott and so I went down the road to Boots. The pharmacist there told me that two other customers had been in with prescriptions for the sensors. There is no product code for it yet so he had to phone up a special department to sort it out. Anyway, the sensors arrived the next day (six of them!).

For those who have had no luck with their doctors, I'm wondering if an idea would be to go to your local Boots pharmacy (or any pharmacy) and ask if anyone has come in with a prescription for the sensors. That way you would know if any other local doctors are prescribing them.
 
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My diabetic nurse said they're not on the system yet so as I'm expecting to see my consultant at the beginning of February, I've ordered 6 today to see me through until then.
 
i have been told by my dn that criteria has to be met and i meet the criteria but need to go on a course before i will be funded by nhs i will learn about the pump and libre and can then choose 1 but the waiting list for this course i should be looking at not ealier then may !!! so does look like lottery postcode was disappointed but thats is the way it is i am in portsmouth goodluck all
 
My daughter has been accepted on a trial from the hospital, although our CCG has not yet approved prescribing. We are hoping if it leads to better control it will be possible, fingers crossed!
 
Glad that some progress is happening on prescriptions, though so slow. I've been using libre since March and its made the world of difference to my BGs. My GP is happy for it to be prescribed but the local health board (W Wales) are dragging their feet with approvals, codes etc. I've just checked and it isn't listed on the BNF yet which won't be helping. Re costs - I used to do 10+ fingerpricks per day which works out at approx £45 per 14 days, not far off the Libre sensor cost (even using a strip once or twice a week to double check). The sensors can be activated with a smart phone so if the patient has one with a 'near field' gizmo it can save the NHS the cost of the device. Good idea someone posted earlier to check local pharmacies to see if anyone has been prescribed sensors - will be going to check later!
 

The NHS doesn't pay the RRP that we as individuals pay; £35/sensor so on a cost case you'd be saving the NHS money (so long as you've based your strip cost on what the NHS pays for said strips - the NHS pay on average for a box of 50 is ~£15) however!
Abbott state the Libre can't replace actual BG tests and not to bolus from it, plus DVLA require BG tests for driving. The reader itself is not on prescription, and like most BG meters would be given FOC - a double or half depending how you look at it, lose leader - if you have the reader you're more likely to 'buy' a sensor AND 'buy' test strips for it.
 
Did you really say '10+ finger pricks a day? I've been using my arms for about 20 years and those show definite signs of wear and tear, but the thought of fingers is almost frightening!
 

It's a moving game at the moment, Emma, and no-one knows how it's going to play out.

It has similarities to when the old fashioned colour changing strips were regarded as the latest cutting edge expensive technology, then they became quaint when meters came out.

Didn't have the internet back then, so I don't know if there was any fuss about how colour changing strips were good enough and people didn't really need expensive meters, but I reckon there was probably some noise about that at the time, similar to what's happening now.

I'm quietly confident that all that's going on at the moment is a bit of fuss because it's a relatively new technology, but once it settles in, the benefits over strips will become obvious and in a few years time, people will be wondering why there was a fuss.

Abbott got a bit of flack for getting people's hopes up by announcing it was now on the NHS, without apparently realising that it's up to ccgs to approve availability, but I reckon they've played a canny game. Abbott is an 88 billion dollar market cap international company, they've got a lot of extremely smart people working for them, so I reckon the announcement was intended to drum up expectations and a groundswell of pressure from users like we're seeing now - although I think it's putting unfair demand on front line providers having to deal with constant requests from us lot even though they can't call the shots on the ccg decision, that sort of demand can influence things in subtle ways in the minds of the decision makers.
 
Very interesting re the NHS costs for the sensor - I've been trying to find that info. Yes, my costs are based on the NHS indicative costs for strips. My GP thought the reader would be on prescription - I guess it'll take some time for the correct info to spread around the system. In my experience the only time I need to do a BG test is when the levels are changing very rapidly (up or down), at all other times there is complete agreement between the sensor and a BG test. I know the DVLA have requirements but I think the Libre adds greatly to road safety by showing trends so clearly and rapidly coupled with the dangers of trying do a BG on a motorway (I'm joking of course)
 
KenBachelor said:
Did you really say '10+ finger pricks a day? I've been using my arms for about 20 years and those show definite signs of wear and tear, but the thought of fingers is almost frightening!
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Yes, typically 10 to 12. Strict rotation of sites and absolute minimum prick depth. About 15 years and still worked - fingers looked like a strange tattoo - fully recovered now, I have pretty thin skin so that possibly helped.
 
@agwagw completely agree with you that the Libre adds greatly to road safety, the difference to knowing that BG test/scan of 5.2 is going up or trending down is a life saver in more ways than one!

I find speeding down the motorway and doing a BG test easier if I set the cruise control on............
 

Are you my consultant or were you in the room yesterday, that's exactly what he said, almost verbatim!
 
I predict another company will come out with a system that is cheaper, and hence reduce the cost to the NHS, and that the DVLA will change their rules on driving at some point. Then CCGs will all ofter some sort of CCG to eveyone with Type1, while still telling people with Type2 that there is no need to monitor BG.......

In the short term if evey child released from hopital with Type1 is sent home with a libre attached, it will be very hard for the CCGs to refuce to fund libre for new cases of Type2 in children. Maybe libres will be given away to hopitals, but with the "free" ones only being allowed to be used on discharge.....
 
 
After talking to my DN on Tuesday and after she saw the results from me using it for 6 months she said she'd happily prescribe it for me if Wokingham CCG decide they can fund it, they haven't decided yet as far as she knew.
 
I' m up in Lothian near Edinburgh and the CCG have not approved the Libre yet. My Diabetic clinic said that maybe in the New Year.
They will save the NHS a huge amount, my sister is a district nurse and 7 out of 10 of her house calls is to do blood tests, each house call is billed at £80 !
I've been a type 1 for 54 years, gone from urine testing ( 5 drops of urine in a test tube, 10 drops of water, drop in a fizzy pill and wait 10 seconds, then one read the colour in the tube against a chart, dark red was sugary, green was low), to blood testing ( much more accurate) and now to digital skin readouts...........Amazing !
But they still haven't discovered a cure......................
 
deniski said:
My Diabetic clinic said that maybe in the New Year.
They will save the NHS a huge amount, my sister is a district nurse and 7 out of 10 of her house calls is to do blood tests, each house call is billed at £80 !
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If someone is not willing to do there own blood tests, then a libre is unlickly to help much. A full CCM with a data link so the BG can be monitored remoting may work, but often these people need a in person visit to get them to take their drugs/inslin anyway.....
 
Believe it or not the finger tests were at one time recommended so I have done many years of finger testing and well over 10 per day, sometimes when ill I was advised to do every waking half hour - so sometimes would do 30 plus tests a day!
KenBachelor said:
Did you really say '10+ finger pricks a day? I've been using my arms for about 20 years and those show definite signs of wear and tear, but the thought of fingers is almost frightening!
Click to expand...
 
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