Sign petition to get freestyle libre NHS-funded

Although T2 am on insulin so signed the petition.

Bit pointless when the NHS is already on its knees cost wise.

mahola said:

I basically got told to shut my mouth and think before I speak.

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Strange how an opinion can illicit such a rude reaction. I think you had thought, a lot, and spoke the truth. In an IDEAL world where everything was nice and rosy I'd ask as well. The reality is that as Engineer says, the NHS is on it's knees. We won't even pay nurses a decent salary or a salary that keeps up with inflation. I said "we" because we don't all write to our MPs and remind them who looks after us when we're ill.

Maybe a petition to pay nurses more?

Maybe we should all move to NI where they now will have plenty of money to spend.

JohnEGreen said:

Maybe we should all move to NI where they now will have plenty of money to spend.

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Don't forget that £1.5 billion has to be shared between 1.8 million, so about £833 each. Only joking, but not happy. I think the next time a politician goes on about the balance of payments we should make him do a presentation with all the numbers he's been using. Sorry, not taking this seriously today. I'll be better tomorrow.

I agree with the idea of Freestyle Libre (or a reliable CGM) on the NHS. However, there are better arguments than "pricking my fingers ... can be painful". What about the value of ongoing data to improve your diabetes control, avoiding complications and, to address @Engineer88's point, save the NHS money in the long run.
What about the relative cost of a Libre and the cost of 15 test strips a day, giving the potential to save money today?
What about the ability for the NHS's bulk buying strategy to potentially reduce the cost of the Libre?

I think a petition for anything on the NHS has to show how it saves costs whilst saving lives.

The thing is, I'm not sure how useful a Libre is unless you have the appropriate education to make the best use of it. They are expensive, and not everyone is in a position to actually benefit from it, and if you aren't responding to it appropriately, what's the point? Getting the data is one thing, but using it is another, and without the proper education you just can't, so I feel as though the money would be better spent improving that aspect. It doesn't replace finger pricking - the DVLA doesn't consider it enough to drive off, and it's not accurate enough to dose from. I would much rather the NHS spent its money on cancer treatments, or more mental health beds, or even more insulin pumps, than this. If you want to keep it diabetes focused, I would rather the money was spent on people getting access to better insulins - I had to fight tooth and nail for Tresiba, because it is expensive, and that has made a far bigger difference to my life than the Libre. The amount of money is limited, and at the end of the day I don't think that a Libre can be said to outright save lives in the way that funding another bed in a specialist stroke unit would, so I'm afraid that I can't sign your petition. If it were more accurate, I might feel differently, but the sensors are definitely hit and miss.

Just my opinion - please don't shoot!

Firstly. Why bother with a 38 Degrees petition? they are a waste of time and have nothing to do with the Government.

Secondly, the Government doesn't make decisions about how NHS money is spent at this level. NICE does, and it uses good old fashioned hard evidence. Go and get some of that before petitioning nobody for something that means somebody else misses out on something else.

Finally, there has already been a lot of work done by Abbott to get this onto the NHS price list and paid for. From what I hear, the DVLA is reassessing their guidance and since NICE have now done a technology briefing on the Libre, we are much closer than we were a year ago to reimbursement.

The reality is that educating the majority T1s using DAFNE or something similar would be more valuable than giving everyone a Libre. After they'd done DAFNE, then maybe you look at Libre or CGM. And DAFNE is a lot less expensive per person that Libre (or any other CGM).

helensaramay said:

I agree with the idea of Freestyle Libre (or a reliable CGM) on the NHS. However, there are better arguments than "pricking my fingers ... can be painful". What about the value of ongoing data to improve your diabetes control, avoiding complications and, to address @Engineer88's point, save the NHS money in the long run.
What about the relative cost of a Libre and the cost of 15 test strips a day, giving the potential to save money today?
What about the ability for the NHS's bulk buying strategy to potentially reduce the cost of the Libre?

I think a petition for anything on the NHS has to show how it saves costs whilst saving lives.

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All good arguments very similar to those advanced for T2's to get meters and strips unfortunatelly arguments that where ignored due to costing.

Nice listens to hard evidence only if approved by and supplied by those with a vested interest that's why we still have the eat well plate I believe.