A bit of constructive criticism as a CGM wearer and someone who would like to see greater availability of CGM access:
I think you did a good job explaining how this has helped improve your partner's blood glucose levels and I liked how you quantified that hypos are costing the NHS £13 million (I think that's the static). However, I would take it a bit further:
-How much better is your partners a1c before and after the CGM? Mine went from 13.2 (diagnosis) down to 5.4 in six months.
-How much additional money will this save the healthcare system? Emergency visits (I'm in the USA and we call them something different) cost billions each year.
-How is this saving on prescription costs? In my case, my Dexcom has saved my insurance company over $5000/year (fewer test strips, lancets, doctor visits, insulin, etc)
-How does this increase transparency and cut down the time of Doctor/patient appointments? My doctor downloads my Dexcom date, reviews it, and gives me feedback which easily saves 15-20 minutes on every visit.
-I'd also consider spell checking the content of the petition. For example, you misspelled "Sensor" as "Senor" which may mean your petition is taken less seriously.
Bottom line: healthcare costs are burdening the entire world and I believe there is a clear path to getting CGM technology covered, but only after people can quantify the potential cost savings and benefits CGMs offer.
Thank you for your comments. Firstly, I noticed the typo on the petition last week and I tried to edit it immediately. Unfortunately it isn't possible to do so.
Diabetes is costing the Health Service in Scotland around £1billion per annum, almost 10% of its total spend. The majority of the spend is not the treatment itself (insulin, metformin, etc) but for the treatment of complications, such as organ failure, heart attack and stroke. I think this is put into perspective when, as mentioned originally, the cost of treating hypos on the NHS UK wide is £13m (I can only estimate the cost in Scotland to be around 1/5 of this figure). It's surely within this area of complications where the greatest benefit to Health Service funds would be, if people have more control of their blood glucose levels. Of course, it would follow that if people are successful in improving their health through improved monitoring, then the need for medication (insulin, metformin, statins etc) reduces, thereby further reducing NHS costs.
There is also the other costs to the Government services, namely the social services costs of diabetes. The costs of nursing services, residential services and home help would, in the longer term, reduce. At present, the social services cost is around £19m annually in Scotland. There is also the issue of unemployment. absence from work and early retirement due to diabetes.
My partner was advised her a1c was 'off the scale' three months ago. She is now awaiting results from her recent test but I would say her CGM readings have averaged out around 8 compared to the 20+ readings in the first few weeks of using it. It has given her the kick she needed. She was diagnosed over 40 years ago and recently (the last 12 months or so) she's been down, even to the point she stopped finger pricking. Since getting the meter, she's been scanning frequently and her focus is back. She's carb counting more than I've ever known her to previously. For me, that more than justifies us spending £100 per month on sensors.
