The longstanding issue of testing and NHS

I also recieved this , I think that last paragraph is a massive get out clause for my surgery, didnt really expect anything else but we can hope :roll:

Kate,
If you can show you are highly motivated and understand the meanings of your blood test readings and produce a food dairy corresponding to your blood sugar readings then, using the response below you could certainly argue that you should be allowed test strips.

http://www.hmg.gov.uk/epetition-respons ... tes-Advice

The Government Response

Every person with diabetes is different and their clinical condition and personal situation changes throughout their life. If a person has diabetes, it is central to his or her care that they receive the most appropriate advice to help them manage their condition. However, the Department of Health does not provide specific dietary advice to people with diabetes.

The Department of Health wants people to know that they can change their lifestyle and make a difference to their health. This is achieved by giving the public clear and consistent messages on why they should change their lifestyle, and what they can do to make this easier.

The self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) in the management of non-insulin treated Type 2 diabetes is the subject of a recently published report from NHS Diabetes. It recommends that in keeping with the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence guidance (CG87), SMBG should only be provided routinely to people with Type 2 diabetes who are not treated with insulin or sulphonylurea and where there is an agreed purpose or goal to testing. SMBG should only be used within a care package and accompanied by structured education, which ensures that people with diabetes have a clear understanding of the role of monitoring and of how the results can improve health outcomes. Individuals with non-insulin treated diabetes who are motivated by SMBG to maximise the benefits of lifestyle and medication should be encouraged to continue to monitor their blood glucose.

Prescribing decisions about blood glucose test strips are for local determination, but Primary Care Trusts should not impose a blanket policy on testing strips for people with Type 2 diabetes.
© Crown copyright.

Click to expand...

I`ll certainly give it a try Sue as I have obtained good controll without any meds , got my HbA1c to 5.7 from initial 8.something only 9 months ago . So far I`ve been helped enormously by forum members with test strips , I`m on a pension , tight budget and simply cant afford them and yet its been the testing thats got me good controll , lunacy !

When I got diagnosed type 2 in March of this year I run off a copy of the NHS Type 2 diabetics - The management of type 2 diabetics Issue date May 2009 Updated March 2010.

1.4 Sefl-monitoring of plasma glucose

1.4.1 Offer self-monioring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetics only as an integal part of his or her selfmanagement......

We should be offered the machines and needles and test stips when first diagnosed. But..... I was told by a doctor who I made an appointment with after not being able to get an appointment with the DN for 6 weeks and was confused and just didn't know what I was suppose to do - she explained about it but said type 2s don't need to test.

I was given this site on a couple of leaflets and my brother treated me to a boots meter but the cost of the strips is £25 for 50. I did get 25 free initially but wasted quite a few learning how to test. I now have the bayer contour and after finishing the free 25 test stips and got my test stips off of eBay for £16.99. A lot cheaper then the price Bayer sell them on their site £23 I recall. I am having my 2nd BS done on 13th Sept seeing the DN on 23rd Sept and am hoping that by them seeing that I am taking this serious and have lost more weight they will allow me test strips on prescription as I retired 30 July and now only have a pension which makes it hard to afford the test strips. I will let you know what happens when i then see the doc on the 24th Sept.

It has only been through testing that I now know that new potatoes even just 3 little ones put my BS up and that mash using reds does not puzzled so am I.

How can you know what affects your BS if you don't test. Each person is affected differentally by different foods even what they say you can eat some can't so it is only through testing that we find out how our bodies are responding to the foods we eat.

Salads keep my BS down but you can't just live on salads so i have spag bol occasionally and have learnt through testing what portion size I can eat. etc etc

We need to shout to the top "WE NEED TEST STRIPS ON PRESCRIPTION" keeping our BS will, in the end, save the NHS lots of money.

Sue

PS Could someone tell me do you get hypos and hypers being type 2 as I was told that on metformin you don't get them is this true.

Government has responded to that petition

For info


http://www.hmg.gov.uk/epetition-respons ... tes-Advice


also


http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Diabetes-Advice/

My DN has just left our GP practice.

Should make for an interesting first consulation when I meet the new one in October for my next check up and ask for a repeat prescription for my test strips. :wink:

"But the last DN used to prescribe them for me, honest...." :twisted:

Reading all this makes me realise how lucky I am. First of all I live in Wales so all prescriptions are free for everyone.

I am a recently diagnosed type 2 and my DN has been fantastic. She has given me a meter and a prescription for strips and told me that whenever I need more I just need to ask at reception and they will sort it out for me.

I have been told to test once a day initially at about the same time but also to test if I feel unwell and to keep a diary of what I have eaten along with the readings so that I can help manage my diabetes.

I am on metformin now but she did bring up meters before that. Sorry that so many of you have such a tough time of it.

Just thought I would mention something too that she told me. If you register your meter (mines a freestyle) you in effect get a lifetime warranty on it even to the extent that they will provide a new battery when you need one! I registered mine and it's true.

I hope that this info will help the many people struggling with there PCT.Maybe you have all seen it before if so I apologise.after a hard fight with with my diabetic nurse I now have test strips on prescrition. I am on Glimipiride annd should have never have been taken off them,

.
HM Government.
Petition to:
Review and re-evaluate the advice being given to Type 2 diabetics by the health authorities
This petition is now closed, as its deadline has passed.

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Review and re-evaluate the advice being given to Type 2 diabetics by the health authorities. More details

Submitted by John Moralee – Deadline to sign up by: 03 June 2010 – Signatures: 643

More details from petition creator
Advice being given to people with Type 2 diabetes is flawed and needs to be reviewed and re-evaluated.

People are told to “eat plenty of starchy carbohydrates”. What is more, many PCTs and GPs have a policy of discouraging Type 2 diabetics from self-management by withholding the prescription of test-strips.

It is the well-documented experience of many people affected by Type 2 diabetes that the “eat plenty of starchy carbohydrates” advice is wrong - and, what is more, that self-management by testing blood glucose levels on a regular basis is the only way to get to grips with the control of their condition.

Very many diabetics have found that they can avoid the progression of their disease by diet and exercise alone. In many cases, they have been able to reverse their diabetic situation to the point that costly medications become unnecessary and that medical complications do not develop – i.e. these people have reduced their burden on the NHS through self-education and self-management.

The advice being offered by the health authorities - regarding carbohydrate intake and prescription of test-strips - is long-overdue for review and re-evaluation.

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Diabetes-Advice/

Government response
Every person with diabetes is different and their clinical condition and personal situation changes throughout their life. If a person has diabetes, it is central to his or her care that they receive the most appropriate advice to help them manage their condition. However, the Department of Health does not provide specific dietary advice to people with diabetes.

The Department of Health wants people to know that they can change their lifestyle and make a difference to their health. This is achieved by giving the public clear and consistent messages on why they should change their lifestyle, and what they can do to make this easier.

The self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) in the management of non-insulin treated Type 2 diabetes is the subject of a recently published report from NHS Diabetes. It recommends that in keeping with the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence guidance (CG87), SMBG should only be provided routinely to people with Type 2 diabetes who are not treated with insulin or sulphonylurea and where there is an agreed purpose or goal to testing. SMBG should only be used within a care package and accompanied by structured education, which ensures that people with diabetes have a clear understanding of the role of monitoring and of how the results can improve health outcomes. Individuals with non-insulin treated diabetes who are motivated by SMBG to maximise the benefits of lifestyle and medication should be encouraged to continue to monitor their blood glucose.

Prescribing decisions about blood glucose test strips are for local determination, but Primary Care Trusts should not impose a blanket policy on testing strips for people with Type 2 diabetes.

Back to the petition list

.Copyright © 2010

I wouldn't mind paying a prescription charge for my test strips which would be cheaper then having to buy them.

For my Bayer Contour meter the cheapest I could find was on eBAY for £16.99 the highest was £29.99 - the prescription charge would be cheaper.

This way it would cost us less and the NHS less as we will be contributing to the cost of them.

I'm not sure what the prescription charge is now about £8.20??? rather pay that and if the cost to the NHS is £12 to £14 we will paying more then half. It will make the strips more affordable to those that take their diabetics serious.

Just a suggestion but how can we go about getting this heard :?:

Sue