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Support available

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lolly-m

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3
Hello everyone,

I am a nursing student doing a small project about diabetes and am trying to find some information about the support that is available to people with diabetes. I understand that there is a yearly review with a GP, but what does this entail? Also, what additional support do you get (if any) in between these reviews? and do you personally think the support you are given is enough?

I would be so grateful for any comments or information.
Thank you :)
 
I am a type 1 for 35 years. I have hospital appts every 6 months and yearly eye and foot checks. I have access to diabetic nurses on the phone if I need them. I live in Scotland. Hope this helps.




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Thank you for your responses.

Visitorf1: It sounds like you might have been recently diagnosed and feel that you need more support? What sort of support services do you think would be most helpful to you? Maybe more frequent contact with health professionals? In an ideal world anyway.

Hilary52: Do you think this is enough support for you? After 35 years I imagine you must have a pretty good understanding of everything by now.

Thank you :)
 
I'm sorry you're not getting much support, I'm don't know very much about diabetes so not sure how much help I can be. Perhaps as a first step you could change GP if you think your current one is not being helpful. There might even be a diabetic nurse working locally that you could arrange an appointment with, I would think going through your GP would be a good place to start with accessing help from a diabetic nurse.
Otherwise Diabetes UK have a support line, they might be able to answer your questions: http://www.diabetes.org.uk/How_we_help/Talk-to-someone/
NHS Diabetes also have a good website with lots of information: http://www.diabetes.nhs.uk/
Finally, there may be a local support group for people in your area who have diabetes that you could go along to. They might know how to access additional support in your area and might be able to answer some of your questions or have some good advice for you. Diabetes UK might be able to help you track down a support group.

I hope you are able to get your questions answered. Good luck.
 
As you can see from the above, diabetic care varies from area to area and from diabetic to diabetic, for some in certain areas the care is excellent and for others in other areas it can be not so good.


There is no doubt that whether we as diabetics receive 1, 2, 3 or 4 diabetes appointments a year the majority of our care is firmly in our own hands, therefore IMHO there should definitely be more education available for both diabetics and diabetic clinic staff (GP surgery diabetic nurses). Undoubtedly the better diabetics are educated in their condition the better armed they are to deal with it.

Unfortunately education like care is still a post code lottery.

Good luck with your project :D
 
HI. Have you looked at the NICE/NHS Diabetes website and NICE Pathway document? It is a very good start point on the support that the NHS/NICE diabetes experts say should be provided and the measurement criteria. DUK also produce what I believe is a 13 point list of what every diabetic should expect. In my own case the local surgery support has been fairly good over the last 8 years, with generally good annual reviews and 6-monthly when needed. I've been referred to the local Retinopathy clinic and have annual screening. Having been on insulin now for 2 weeks my diabetes nurse has provided excellent support. My criticism and that of many other posters is that the local diabetes staff vary a lot in knowledge and also the time to listen. I'm sure they don't have enough time for enough training and keeping up to date as diabetes is just a part of their day.
 
I was recently told that the UK is where Germany was 20 years ago in terms of care and management, wether that's related solely to Type 1, I can't tell you as I haven't had the time to look it up. Apparently over there they focus hugely on management through education. On a child being diagnosed with T1 for example they bring the whole family in for 6 weeks. Very interested to know more about their model, stats etc. Will look it up when I've more time.


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I get an official annual review with the practice nurse, which checks my HbA1c, cholesterol, weight and blood pressure. She also checks the pulses and nerves in my feet.
In addition, I get an annual retina screening.
I request an HbA1c six months after my Official review and get that too.
the nurse always asks if I have any concerns I get on very well with her and if I need something, I know she'll help. However I know more about diabetes than she does, being a biology graduate [1970!] So I'm gradually teaching her about low carbing. She approves of it
My pharmacy also does an annual review of medication. I use the minimum that I can and so interactions don't happen. If there were a risk of that, I'm sure it would be picked up.
I don't need much support although I wish I could be prescribed test strips, instead of having to buy them out of my pension. I did get a pack when I had a throat infection, but I'm rarely ill. I test pretty much every day and do a 24 hour run of tests every now and then.
I've done the X-pert patient course and a psychological course to help me be assertive. I was assertive anyway and did it out of curiosity. I was able to help some of the other paients with suggestions for meals to improve their control.[mine is barely pre-diabetic level HbA1c 40;5.8%
I have seen other diabetics with less motivation than me and less understanding of biochemistry, who've needed to go on insulin about 5 years after diagnosis of T2. I'm 10 years down the line myself and doing pretty well on minimal Metformin .
I think the terrible dietary advice out there for most diabetics[ ie "eat carbs with every meal and cut down on fats", which is useless to a diabetic] does a LOT of harm and leads to unnecessary complications.
 
Yes I am very happy with the support I receive. On my appts every 6 months I get blood check for cholesterol and kidney function as well as hb1a.

After all this time I am pretty much expert on my condition but always nice to see doctor for a chat




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I get 6 monthly appts at hospital for my T2 diabetes. My GP deals with my ad hoc requirements and signs the prescriptions and the surgery nurse does the annual tick-box fest, and I get my annual retinopathy screening.
I had Xpert classes 4 years ago but they were formulaic so I taught myself what I needed 8)
My care is largely me-led, instigating medicine changes etc. :clap:
 
I was diagnosed and in a complete mess when I returned home from a&e, when I saw my GP for the first time in 10 years, after paying £100's a month for donkeys years on national insurance, the doctor spent my ten minutes looking at he's watch and I left having learnt nothing at all, the dn seemed to know less than me about diabetes and I had only read about it for 2 weeks or so, the only support I've received is on this forum which is terrific.


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I was diagnosed type 2 last May. Now get annual check with nurse, annual eye check and had a talk with my GP who arranged 3 monthly blood test to start with so I could get control with diet. Now will be on annual blood test.
 
I was diagnosed TYpe 2 three years ago. My practice is pretty good - I get all the routine checks, HbA1c/cholesterol 4 times a year, podiatrist, retinal screening etc. I also get a meter and test strips on prescription - vital, in my opinion, and lack of a meter, and not being taught how to use them to identify "bad" (ie, spiking) foods, is the biggest mistake the NHS is making.

In my experience HCPs get more education about Type 1, and many of them have no idea about Type 2 - to the extent of trying to put me on an insulin drip for a minor gynaecological operation! Completely inappropriate.

I agree with everything Hanadr has said above, particularly about the NHS recommended diet. Very little info for TYpe 2s about how carbohydrates affect blood glucose.

In my personal care - well, I educated myself about diabetes, and take full responsibility for managing my own condition. I am seldom out of the non-diabetic blood glucose range when I follow my own very-low-carb diet. My GP and Practice Nurse understand what I'm doing, let me get on with it, and support me all the way. I am very lucky.

Viv 8)
 
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