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How are we meant to know?

H

hanadr

Expert
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8,157
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soaps on telly and people talking about the characters as if they were real.
Who's seen the letter in the current "Balance"?
The guy who wants to know how he's meant to know whether his Bg is on target, whilst his GP tells him that they don't bother with self testing for T2.
I have already sent a reply to the magazine, saying, You do like so many of us and buy your supplies. That chap managed to get his doctor's decision reversed.
I wish I could gget my PCT to see things that way. All I ever get from them is the usual guff about it not being any better for T2s to test themselves.
They are "improving". The number of people hitting the target of A1c~7.5% :shock: has gone up by 4% . It's still barely half of all the people they "care for"
If I could find out how many amputees they have, I could do the sums for them.
If anyone has appropriate data, could they please work out how many strips could be given to patients for the saving of just one amputee
Hana
 
hanadr said:
......... If I could find out how many amputees they have, I could do the sums for them...........
Click to expand...
Hana,

Apparently from numbers that I've heard quoted from a very good source, the number is 10,000 per year nationwide. However, it sounds as though they don't have the means to establish how many there are from a specific town or area.

John
 
Test strips come out of GP's budgets, amputations and other complications dealt with at a hospital come out of the PCT's budget.

So from a purely mercenary point of view there is no incentive for a GP to prevent complications, now I am sure no NHS doctor would withhold test trips to save money at the risk of complications but it does kind of make you wonder doesn't it.
 
I have to wonder whether any of the statistics released by the NHS can be relied on to any extent. There was an item on our local news recently, where the PCT were UNABLE to say what percentage of healthcare workers had been immunised against swine flu, because they just DIDN'T RECORD that sort of information. At all. I doubt whether the new IT system will help matters much, that's of course if it ever arrives.
 
John aka Wallycorker
Hana,
Apparently from numbers that I've heard quoted from a very good source, the number is 10,000 per year nationwide.
John
Click to expand...


Please state your source, with a link if at all possible. We like to make sure the information given out on this Forum is accurate in all respects.
 
I got my figures for the 4% improvement direct from the PCT

>>Test strips come out of GP's budgets, amputations and other complications dealt with at a hospital come out of the PCT's budget.<<

It's our PCT which has told Gps to restrict strips.
Hana
 
Hana wrote "It's our PCT which has told Gps to restrict strips".

Clearly the PCT has not managed to join the dots! :shock: :roll:
 
I'm not sure what the PCT does except count beans. I have an acquaintance, in a health walk group, who has kidney cancer. They didn't want to fund his medication and he had to fight( for his life literally!)
 
It really is frightening and we are all so vulnerable when we are ill as that is when we are least able to fight. :shock:
 

http://www.politics.co.uk/opinion-f...r-improved-foot-services-$1304448$1232916.htm
 
I have to agree with Sid Bonkers. Some time back when I was fighting for test strips and asked if it wasn't preferable to be allowed adequate testing strips rather than possibly dealing with a future amputation, my DSN just laughed and said 'that wouldn't be my problem because that's somebody else's budget, not mine'. :roll:
 
Numbers quoted by endocrinologists in a meeting I attend at the local hospital.
 
Chocaholic

I hope you told your DN that it didn't make you feel any better about your losing a limb in order to keep her budget on track :!: Grr! :evil:
 
 
John aka Wallycorker said:
I wouldn't know the answer but I suppose that it all depends on what is defined as or considered to be an amputation. There was some discussion on that subject too.

John
Click to expand...

Amputation is the removal of a body extremity by trauma or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventative surgery for such problems.
Wikepedia:

Extract: DUK article.
Diabetes is the leading cause of lower limb amputation in the World and around 5,000 people with Diabetes undergo leg, foot and toe amputations each year in the UK, equivalent to 100 a week.

Hope that helps.
 
On the recent X-PERT course we were told:
Hounslow spend more on test strips than diab medication, so testing is discouraged.
Click to expand...
I pointed out that that could mean that testing aided control, & reduced the need for medication & the expensive treatment of complications. Statistics can be misleading.

The course leader had to agree :wink:

Only two of the 10 had test kits.
 
The post code lottery worked in my favour!! I had all my arguments ready as to why I should have strips on prescription. But as I had soaked up so much great info here and was able to discuss testing etc with the DN she never put up a fight. Said if I lived in the next PCT she wouldn't be able to prescribe. I'm in Ham & Fulham PCT and next door is Wandsworth.
So I got 100 strips with a repeat script until September! Result.
So busy testing what works and what doesn't....
M
 
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