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How does your diabetes care compare?

E

EK297

Member
Messages
21
Ok, a little bit of a rant - and for that I apologise!

Before today, I hadn’t seen my diabetes team face to face in almost two years. Had a clinic appointment this morning and it honestly felt like the biggest waste of time!

Went in and was weighed and had bloods taken. Then back to the waiting room. 45 minutes later, in to see the consultant - only it wasn’t a consultant, ir was a mess student. She was lovely, don’t get me wrong, but I didn’t get anything from the chat with her. I asked again about moving to the pump (three years of asking now!) to be told she would speak to the consultant and ask somebody to reach out to me.

I have my eyes checked separately so no need for that. Poked my feet with one of those filament sticks - put a tick in the box.

I explained that I’ve been having reactions at some of my injection sites, despite rotating where I jab, replacing the needles and so on. No advice other than to keep rotating and she would speak to the consultant to see if he had any other advice.

I know that the NHS is under immense pressure at the minute and I really am so grateful that we have it. But these appointments just seem pointless. I spent longer sitting in the waiting room then I did in the room with anybody, and even then it wasn’t somebody who could help me more forward with anything. My hba1c was almost exactly what my Libre predicted so can’t even say it was worth the trip through rush hour traffic for that!

Does anybody else feel like this sometimes?!
 
EK297 said:
Does anybody else feel like this sometimes?!
Click to expand...

Hi there, in answer to this question, yes, now and again. It's not that I mind the cattle market effect, ie, weight/feet/blood pressure etc, what more is there to do about that if it all comes back 'normal', nothing there to talk about. I guess it's when there is a specific issue and they brush it off in a casual way. To be honest I'm grateful to be in and out as quickly as possible but if I have a question that I need answering there is nothing more frustrating than a non answer and nothing more time wasting than getting ready to speak to a Consultant and finding out that they're absent.
 
I think that’s what’s for me up a height today. The normal results are all great, and happy to get them done to make sure everything is ok. But when I’m asking for help and it’s not there, it does make me think “why can’t I just nip in to my GP surgery and have blood taken there instead of coming through town and paying city centre parking fees?!”

Frustrated, I guess, as I’ve been asking to be considered for a pump for years. Never seems to move forward. COVID has been blamed, waiting lists, etc. Perhaps just one of those days!
 
Having had an appointment by phone, with my actual consultant, at exactly the time planned, I wouldn’t go into clinic again unless absolutely had to. Blood tests at GP 5 mins walk away. No parking fees. Can download all my results. And am old enough to monitor my own weight. Can contact team if I need help which they are immediately pro active with. Excellent care! Feel blessed.
 
I feel that way sometimes myself. When I was first diagnosed in 2009, I was put on a 75/25 mix as basal was not available (Lantus, Levemir and such). Now, 12 years later, I want to switch to a basal/bolus regime as I feel that I can get better numbers (less highs/lows, and better A1C's). It is a fight to even get her to talk about it.
 
Ah that’s good to hear. I have to be honest, I’d much rather have appointments via phone and bloods at the GP. Perhaps hasn’t helped me mood today that I was seven minutes late getting back to my car and got a ticket
 
I too much prefer the phone/video consultations!! I always have to get my bloods done by the GP anyway, but avoided a drive and the usual wait at the clinic for the past two consultations (they're always running late in person).

I've got the libre so they have access to all my data and other than them doing my BP and commenting on how nice and low it is I don't miss anything else by it not being in person. Eyes and nerve check in my feet are done elsewhere.

My clinic do have a policy where you see your consultant one year, then one of their registrars the next. A few years ago they kept rescheduling appointments due to staff illness, then snow, so I had only had 2 clinics in 4 years. That meant I hadn't seen my consultant for 5 years by the time my next clinic happened. I've now had 2 video clinics in the space of 13 months and am very happy for it to continue that way!

I wonder if you can appeal your parking ticket if the diabetes centre vouch that your appointment overran through no fault of your own? Very frustrating!
 
Sounds just the same as it was 30 years ago when I was last in the UK, not good, I have to say my treatment here in France has always been excellent, and has continued to be good even with the covid epidemic
 

I couldn’t get parked in the hospital car park, so parked offsite. Don’t think they will care that I was stuck in an appointment, sadly. Cursing as I nearly but in more money to get an extra hour but talked myself out of it after convincing myself they wouldn’t take THAT long. My own fault but grr all the same!
 
Hello again @EK297, I have an appointment next month but it's a "pre-consultation" followed by a phone consultation a week or so later, I don't have a face-to-face consultation until next February. From what I can understand the pre-consultation is for bloods etc and whilst I don't have to spend time in traffic and pay for parking it would mean getting 2 buses when they've gotten rid of the requirement to wear a mask, which I don't fancy much!
 
I had a terrible experience when first diagnosed but soon got resolved. I was sent home from hospital without any knowledge of working out insulin/carb counting how to solve highs and panic stations as they sent me home with my insulin but forgot to give me needles lol. Since then they have been fantastic with me, probably because of the bad start but I've nothing to complain about now
 
I’ve had a great variety of face to face clinic appointments over the years ranging from downright appallingly bad to life enhancingly excellent. There seem to be just a few nurses, admins and consultants who go beyond the basic requirements, who stay up to date with the research, who can listen attentively. I feel very lucky that the consultant who joined the clinic I ‘go’ to came out of retirement a year before the pandemic started, I really hope the extra workload of the Covid wards doesn’t shorten his life. He’s the top of the sadly few excellent ones.
Phone consultations have worked well. I have a prepared list of things I want to talk about, he has librelink, and I always ask him how he is too. I don’t like everything to be one way traffic, I like a human element alongside the diabetes numbers game.
 
I think like a lot of things to do with the NHS it’s a post code lottery , with regard appointments I now believe that all my future appointments will be vis video or phone my last one was ( after two years of none ) , I don’t have a problem with it and the person I had was totally “ switched on “ I’ve had diabetes a long long time so I’m quite confident and able to sort out my diabetes with out much input ! But that isn’t the case for everyone , I do understand that COVID has put a huge spanner in the works the question I have to ask is when ( and that’s a big when ) everyone has had the vaccination and 20 people die of COVID ( and that will happen) is the situation we have now still going to exist . I understand with technology these days it’s easy to do a zoom call etc but sometimes a face to face appointment can help people mentally
 
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