NHS Supplied Meter

if you surgery is making you change meters should they also not purchase the cable and software as well?

CADDICKD said:

is this meter standard throughout the NHS?

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My surgery gave me an Abbott Freestyle Lite so I suppose it is not standard.

After speaking to my GP it appears that they are given the meters for free by the manufacturers. The manufacturers then make all the money they need out of the sale of the test strips, either privately or through the NHS. My surgery gives out the Gluco RX Nexus. I think it all depends on which manufacturer gives away the most meters. All the GPs in my area appear to give out a different type of meter so it appears to be the luck or the draw as to which one you get.

martsnow said:

After speaking to my GP it appears that they are given the meters for free by the manufacturers. The manufacturers then make all the money they need out of the sale of the test strips, either privately or through the NHS. My surgery gives out the Gluco RX Nexus. I think it all depends on which manufacturer gives away the most meters. All the GPs in my area appear to give out a different type of meter so it appears to be the luck or the draw as to which one you get.

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A year or two ago my surgery tried to put everyone on the Gluco Rx meter. It had apparently been a decision handed down from the local NHS trust. I ran a set of comparison readings with the new meter against my previous meter and showed, quite clearly, that the Gluco Rx was totally inaccurate. I got a second meter directly from the manufacturer and it was just as bad. Not only were they inaccurate but the inaccuracy was not linear so you couldn't say that the Gluco Rx always read x amount high or low. I took my findings and comparison readings in to my GP, went thru them with her, and said that I was not prepared to use the Gluco Rx due to its inaccuracy. I was allowed to stay on my One Touch. I don't know what anyone else experienced in my surgery or our area.

My husband was recently diagnosed with type 2, insulin dependent, he has multiple other medical problems and we are both coping well. The DN are a great support and readings are quite stable however he does need to eat every couple of hours during the day or will have a hypo. He also got a hypo the first time he went out for a walk, the DN suggested I carry his meter in the car. The hospital supplied an Accu check Aviva and this website supplied me with a free One Touch Verio I thought I would keep the One Touch in the car and decided to check and do each test on both meters. I was very surprised to discover the reading each time were quite different on each meter. Accu Check maybe 4.6 and One Touch 5.8. This scared me as the first time I tried both the Accu Check said he was having a hypo and the One Touch indicated he wasn't. He often can't tell a hypo because of his other medical problems. Has anyone else come across this problem as I would really like to be able to use both?

Hi everybody, I would just like to say that the Countess of Chester gave me Accu-Chek mobile meter, as I can't feel the test strip to insert it into a meter. The doctors prescribe the cartridges containing the test strips on a role. All I did was ask. We often have a problem because the hospital is in England and we live in North Wales. This causes us problems from blood tests to some prescriptions. Any new medication presribed takes about 2 - 3 weeks before we can pick it up from the doctors which often is a pain!

Just to say I love the meter and the supplied software & cable

Type 1 for over 55 years - I have used a one touch meter for as long as I can remember <> keep one in car, one in boat one in bedroom and another is the one which gets most use. My surgery has insisted that I change meter on several occasions -
Microdot looked good until tested - variable results averages 18% error and software had some significant issues - Jazz meter - lousy display worse accuracy - then Nexus Rx with great display but strangely erratic results.
I have tried other meters which come with only 10 test strips which is not enough to verify result to a level which enables trust and although look to be ideal the surgery refuses outright to even investigate the supply of test strips!
I have also had the number of test strips reduced so I asked why this had happened with out any notice or consultation only to be told that it was on instructions from one of the surgery doctors. So that lit my blue touch paper and I was given 5 extra boxes to cover the shortfall.
That's my gripe over -
So I think the important point is to use the meter to fine tune your blood sugar awareness then only totally trust the meter if it matches how you feel - use one to check the other because all sorts of things can make test results seem suspect.

CADDICKD said:

Last week I had to pick up a new meter from my Doctor's surgery. The meter is an Accu-Check Performa Nano. my current meter is an One Touch Vero IQ and is less than a year old.

My current meter has free software and cable to download my results and link into my Health Vault account. Accu-Check want me to pay £25.00 for the software and RF cable.

is this meter standard throughout the NHS?

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Blood Glucose Meters are given free to the NHS - Some CCGs only give out those with cheap strips who's accuracy is not always as it should be - see research paper on the web called Freckmann which tests 43 different meters for accuracy.
A Diabetes healthcare specialist would probably give you a different product to that from a GP or Practice Nurse. As the latter tend to be restricted by a low cost formulary put together by CCG accountants.
I believe a Type 1 patient should have one that is able to test for Ketones - Check the NICE guidelines

You're most welcome - there is information available that shows patients what practices should be doing - NICE guidelines are available on their website. The Freckmann report shows how poor the accuracy is of some meters CCGs insist on using ax they are cheap.
Type 1s should have access to a meter that tests Ketones,
There are new products that mean you don't have to prick lingers all the time and give the nurse or doctor lots more information - like the Freestyle Libre - may need to speak to a Diabetes specialist Nurse rather than a GP or Practice Nurse to find out about this or go online

DMM49 said:

A year or two ago my surgery tried to put everyone on the Gluco Rx meter. It had apparently been a decision handed down from the local NHS trust. I ran a set of comparison readings with the new meter against my previous meter and showed, quite clearly, that the Gluco Rx was totally inaccurate. I got a second meter directly from the manufacturer and it was just as bad. Not only were they inaccurate but the inaccuracy was not linear so you couldn't say that the Gluco Rx always read x amount high or low. I took my findings and comparison readings in to my GP, went thru them with her, and said that I was not prepared to use the Gluco Rx due to its inaccuracy. I was allowed to stay on my One Touch. I don't know what anyone else experienced in my surgery or our area.

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I'm abandoning the use of my GlucoRx after too many unexplained, rogue results. I've purchased a Freestyle Lite and feel a tremendous sense of relief and blood sugar control which matches my HbA1c. My GlucoRx 3 hours after lunch today gave a reading of 10.6 mmol/L and my Freestyle Lite 6.2 mmol/L. It's an extraordinary, unfathomable difference until you see the confidence intervals here:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3570840/figure/fig02/
From this study, the Freestyle Lite has the smallest confidence interval which is the smallest margin of error.

CADDICKD said:

Accu-Check want me to pay £25.00 for the software and RF cable.

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It costs over $100.00 here in Australia for those items.

That is the reason I got a Abbott Freestyle Freedom Lite meter, as the software and cable is free.

I have recently posted about the accuracy of different bg meters so nowadays I use it to follow the trend of my sugars and rely on my own judgement to how I feel fortunately I am fairly well tuned into the subtleties of how my body is reacting.tHis I know is not ideal but my drs practice is adamant about the meter they supply. (Glucorx)

hawkeyeuk said:

I have recently posted about the accuracy of different bg meters so nowadays I use it to follow the trend of my sugars and rely on my own judgement to how I feel fortunately I am fairly well tuned into the subtleties of how my body is reacting.tHis I know is not ideal but my drs practice is adamant about the meter they supply. (Glucorx)

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There is a medical article that backs up your observations: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3570840/figure/fig02/

thanks thats helps reassure me somewhat