Is my Doctor Playing fair??

Hi. Most of us have hit problems of this kind from the surgery. Does your sugery have emergency surgey sessions each day? Ours does and I would attend one if you do so you can get another prescription. Also you could phone the surgery and ask to speak to a GP to get the prescription done or leave a request? If your surgery doesn't offer any of these facilties then I would look for another one or complain to the practice manager. We have a local Darzi walk-in GP clinic as a back stop and there is always A&E....

Hi. just to say hi and query your problem. It's fairly normal for diabetic medication to be put onto a repeat prescription , and if this is the case you should be able to request the repeat from the reception. insist on one the same day
If you need some this weekend then go to a walk in centre or A&E the should be able to sort you out with an emergency prescription to tide you over.
I did it on holiday when i realised that I'd left some of my tablets at home.

I have had similar problems with my surgery where the receptionist can be incredibly rude. I managed to get past this issue by making it clear to them that I am the patient, and that the surgery is there to serve patients and not the convenience of the staff who work there.

Be firm. If you are clear that you are an ill man who needs to be cared for, then you can also be confident when demanding that you come first. Don't stand for any nonsense! I phoned in one morning, didn't get the answer I wanted, so I went to the surgery and refused to leave. I saw my GP soon enough, believe me!

Complain, and stand your ground, and if you turn up, there's little they can do!

A few days ago I saw a post entitled 'what is the hardest thing about having diabetes?' and the first thing that entered my head was 'having to fight for the health care I feel I should be entitled to'. On reflection this is isn't the worst thing, but it is certainly high on the list. I use to think my doctor would also act in the best interests of my health, but I soon realised this is not the case, after he advised me to measure my blood sugar levels once per day so that I would need less test strips. As a type 1 diabetic with a HbA1c of over 8, I knew following this advice would probably cut my lifespan by 10 years.

So despite being avery meek person I have learned to be assertive. My advice to you is to learn everything you can about diabetes and how to manage the condition. Don't assume your doctor will tell you what you need to know or act in your best interests. Decide on what you need to manage your diabetes and then stand your ground until you get it.

Your health is so precious. Fight for it.

Some GPs don't know a great deal about Diabetes - they don't get much on it during their training, and they are after all "General Practitioners", not specialists.

LadyAAA's GP is a case in point - only too obvious that s/he hasn't the faintest idea about managing Type 1 :shock: .

This is a sorry state of affairs, but unfortunately that's where we are at the moment. We have to learn as much as we can about our condition so that we can stand our ground armed with the facts.

Captain Kremen, my best advice to you is to take the 15-days-from-now appointment, and spend as much time as you can learning about Type 2, and some of the other things: Google, eg, 'kidney function diabetes', and see what you get. Read round this site as much as possible, and ask any questions you like. There's no such thing as a silly question on here - we've all asked 'em!

Your biggest battle is likely to be getting a BG metre and enough strips. Tell them you want to monitor what you eat so you can learn which foods spike you, and suggest you have them for 3 months for a trial. If you get good results they may let you keep them!

Oh, and ask for a print-out of your test results. They are part of your medical records and you are allowed to see them, by law. Don't let them charge you for the print-out! I have copies of all my tests, every 3 months since 2010.

I am very lucky and have a friendly and helpful GP practice who still run Open Surgeries in the mornings :thumbup: . I get most of what I need - test strips etc. But this is still my diabetes, and I am in control of it.

Don't let them get to you! You've lived with this for a while, so it's not going to "get" you in the next 15 days.

The diagnosis "consequences" speech is only to frighten you into taking it seriously. I think many GPs are really frustrated by the number of newly-diagnosed diabetics (or long-term, for that matter) who simply ignore their condition and hope it will go away :shock: .

We're all on your side

Viv 8)

ladyAAA said:

after he advised me to measure my blood sugar levels once per day so that I would need less test strips. As a type 1 diabetic with a HbA1c of over 8, I knew following this advice would probably cut my lifespan by 10 years.

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I am actually left speechless (and that doesn't happen often! ).. I would have reported advice like that to the PCT.. it is truly shocking.