• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Libre on NHS

NoKindOfSusie said:
I get the feeling there are basically two groups of people who aren't allowed to have it people who are so awesome they don't need it, which is definitely not me, and people who are so **** it wouldn't help
Click to expand...
I suspect you may be right.
The Libre or any CGM or even any BG testing is only valuable if the person receiving the data knows what to do with it.
For example, if you trust everything the Libre says, you may not be the right person for it, if you don't know how to do corrections, you are probably not the right person, if you only look at what your Libre says your BG is now and ignore any trends, I don't think you understand the value of a Libre.
I fear when the Libre is handed out it may do so without this being considered.
And, for people who self fund, I fear many are not getting the most out of their money because they ignore the trends ... which IMO is the most valuable thing.
 
JoeT1 said:
Who cares what peoples attitude would be to you self funding it. No medical professional is going to be angry or think it's a bad idea for someone to be able to check their bloods more regularly. Nonsense.
Click to expand...
I suspect some medical professionals may be angry if people entirely rely on the Libre.
It does not seem to be accurate enough for that ... although, it is probably better than never pricking your finger.
 
sometimes i find finger pricking is not accurate as ive done different fingers and got different results off each one (i done 1 hand just to see if readings matched but they never )and libre varys about 2mmol but sometimes is in sync :wacky:
 
helensaramay said:
I suspect some medical professionals may be angry if people entirely rely on the Libre.
It does not seem to be accurate enough for that ... although, it is probably better than never pricking your finger.
Click to expand...

I agree, but that's not what I said. My point was nobody should be mad because you want to to be able to get more information about your bloods. You shouldn't disregard finger pricking
 
helensaramay said:
I suspect you may be right.
The Libre or any CGM or even any BG testing is only valuable if the person receiving the data knows what to do with it.
For example, if you trust everything the Libre says, you may not be the right person for it, if you don't know how to do corrections, you are probably not the right person, if you only look at what your Libre says your BG is now and ignore any trends, I don't think you understand the value of a Libre.
I fear when the Libre is handed out it may do so without this being considered.
And, for people who self fund, I fear many are not getting the most out of their money because they ignore the trends ... which IMO is the most valuable thing.
Click to expand...
I agree that the trends are the most informative / useful thing ( mind you understanding trends is the reason why I decided to investin a few sensors, so I guess I would agree). Im also writing as a T2 so the issues will prob be a bit different
I wanted / needed to understand why Im getting almost completely flat BG results despite a) being on Gliclazide and my BG after taking it seeming to be largely unaffected by the meds nowadays and b) results being 90-95% in target range. To me its interesting and annoying but ultimately irrelevant whether the libre and my meter agree on absolute numbers as long as the trends match - the hba1c im due in a couple of weeks will give a good idea re the high/low points in BG numbers.
That having been said, I do wish my libre would stop telling me Im hypo in the middle of the night when my meter says Im not
Edit
Interestingly although the libre and my meter give sometimes wildly (up tp 3.5 mmol) different readings, the hba1c predictions generated by libre sorfware based on the sensor and those generated by another app i use to track my Meter test results, show less than 1 mmol difference in their hba1c predictions!
 
Last edited:
Well I thought I was doing well here in Leeds, ordered my sensors on 1st October last year, and got them without any effort. Brilliant I thought until I contacted my drs this week to be told they had now been told they would not be available unless I specifically had them prescribed by my consultant at the hospital. When will these people realise they are messing about with our lives here
 
We asked my son's consultant at his last clinic appt in December and he prescribed them without any hesitation. We live in Stirling district in Scotland and had been self funding for the previous 2 years.
 
Sp00kie13 said:
Well I thought I was doing well here in Leeds, ordered my sensors on 1st October last year, and got them without any effort. Brilliant I thought until I contacted my drs this week to be told they had now been told they would not be available unless I specifically had them prescribed by my consultant at the hospital. When will these people realise they are messing about with our lives here
Click to expand...

Told by my GP they are a red drug in Leeds. Only to be prescribed by consultant. Was told at my hospital appt in December only a very small percentage with specific issues would get it for now.

It is a frustrating NHS lottery situation. It has all of us paying in but only select areas giving out. This of course also applies to certain cancer drugs and other drugs needed for various conditions.
 
Have people who's CCG's haven't commissioned yet wrote to their local CCG to complain, and asked why they're ignoring https://www.sps.nhs.uk/wp-content/u...-monitoring-System-RMOC-Statement-final-2.pdf when other CCG's are allowing their prescription? Data shows 668 Libre prescriptions in NI for December, 651 in England for December so it's a fair question to ask your MP too, ours wrote to the CCG and has stayed involved.

I managed to get our local Radio to do a news article on the post code lottery on Tuesday, cr*p hearing myself on't wireless but by the end of the day they'd interviewed a few different folk about it and got a point over so it wasn't too bad :) (Look North had the article on their website so 'may' do one on Leeds if a few asked them to!)

The public can attend a CCG meeting too and apply to speak to ask questions. I'm going to the York CCG's one on 01/03/18 and have listed my questions so they'll be getting a headache also :p

Shy boys get no toys....
 
NoKindOfSusie said:
Because they can't possibly afford it?
Click to expand...

Because the majority of us do not fit the strict criteria. (Unless you are in Scotland)
Re finger pricking. Yes we may all test a lot, however unless the consultant is in agreement that you must test this amount you won’t qualify.
 
becca59 said:
however unless the consultant is in agreement that you must test this amount you won’t qualify.
Click to expand...

ouch! I hadn't thought of it like that :facepalm:

Surely a diabetes specialist consultant/registrar at a hospital would agree that testing >8 times a day is worthwhile......?
 
When I had my trial the main tests it cut out for me were most of the postprandial ones as I could see where I was heading (and the Libre I had on was fairly accurate). I would still have to test for driving so I'd still be using a decent amount of strips a day. However, it was reassuring to be able to see 'whats up' any time I liked - may have been the novelty of the trial but I think I scanned somewhere in the region of 20 times a day whilst I had it!
 
SockFiddler said:
My DN last week said I was "borderline obsessive" for being a T2 who tests their bloods, sometimes, 4 times a day and that, if I were still testing to that degree at my next appointment in July (and was foolish enough to tell her about it), she'd refer me for psychiatric support.

So, yeah, medical professionals do think testing more regularly is a bad thing.
Click to expand...

When my son was first diagnosed with type 1 I was referred to child protection for testing too much. I tested 8 - 10 times a day.
 
Back
Top