GP pressure to use uniform testing strips

I'm Type 2.

My practice uses Freestyle Lite, which they hand out to ALL diabetics regardless of type, together with strips on prescription. This is adequate for my needs; don't know about Type 1s.

I think they do this because the strips are cheaper if they buy them in bulk. They do encourage us Type 2s not to use too many :wink: .

Viv 8)

The DB clinic at my GPs has has no problem with me changing meters and strips. ALthough my GP always reminds me of the cost of the strips. Currently my prescription is for 100 strips a month as my control is poor.

I changed meter just a few weeks ago; went to see the DSN because Accu Chek is the only meter manufacturer not giving away free meters and she gave me a new meter (with unlimited prescriptions for lancets and cassettes) with no questions asked. A quick glance at her meter cupboard (I recognised Abbot, Bayer, Roche) suggests that they don't do favour any particular meter.

Hey AMBrennan!

AMBrennan said:

I changed meter just a few weeks ago; went to see the DSN because Accu Chek is the only meter manufacturer not giving away free meters and she gave me a new meter (with unlimited prescriptions for lancets and cassettes) with no questions asked..

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Roche (who make Accu-Chek) sent me a new Accu-Chek Mobile last year when mine broke and sent me a spare because they said I shouldn't be dependent on one meter. All for free - excellent service. Maybe it depends on the person you speak to.

Smidge

Well, but you're already a customer. On their website, they have a "buy online" button where Abbot, Bayer, etc have a "Request free meter" button :mrgreen:

hague161 said:

My practice, which has it's own pharmacy is pretty much insisting that all their diabetic patients move to the True Result meter and associated testing strips. Has anyone else had this kind of pressure and what do you think of it. I'd never heard of True Result before, but I was handed a tester and some strips when I last went for a prescription. The meter doesn't average, which I found pretty uesful, but otherwise it seems OK.

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There's been a few members saying that their gp practise is changing to one type of meter only, obviously cost is a consideration when they make these decisions as the price of test strips can vary quite considerably, so far my practise hasn't gone down this road but if they do then there's not much I could do to be honest, I'm grateful for the fact that we get test strips on prescription where as others have to pay for theirs.

It's a shame the meter you mention doesn't have features such as a 30 day average, I would at the very least expect a modern meter to have this facility as well as the ability to download the data.

hague161 said:

My practice, which has it's own pharmacy is pretty much insisting that all their diabetic patients move to the True Result meter and associated testing strips. Has anyone else had this kind of pressure and what do you think of it. I'd never heard of True Result before, but I was handed a tester and some strips when I last went for a prescription. The meter doesn't average, which I found pretty uesful, but otherwise it seems OK.

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These adverts say that it does do averages, 7,14 and 30 days.

http://www.pcpdirect.co.uk/Pharmacy/Dia ... Meter.html
http://www.niprodiagnostics.com/our_pro ... esult.aspx