Edwardia said:
The date by which I should have my next review is always printed on every prescription/repeat prescription with the warning that I won't be prescribed further drugs past the prescription review date unless I have seen my GP. I don't get a letter though.
The same applies here, for everyone with a repeat prescription - but that is a
prescription review, entirely separate from what they call my
diabetic review. Although if people use the service where the pharmacy handle the repeat prescription paperwork, they might not actually see the reminders.
I had another "it's time for your diabetic review" letter this week. This time that actually meants "we have no proof you've had a urine test in the last 12 months". The urine test is done on a little machine in the T1 clinic and the printout stuck into my notes, the sample doesn't go through the main labs so results don't appear on the computer, and sometimes the hospital may not specifically say its been done when they write to my GP. She also wanted me to have my eye screening done again because she hadn't got a report - it was done 7 days earlier and I'd received my result letter that morning (no evidence of diabetic eye changes
). I didn't take letter with me as I know they get one anyway, but rather than wait for the letter to arrive she wanted to put drops in my eyes and do it again...
What a waste of precious NHS resources to say oh one test out of several
may not have been done (the specialists won't realise it's necessary!) so lets repeat all the tests and tie up a triple appointment with the nurse, just so we can tick a box to say we've done the urine test.
I've
never failed to attend a GP or hospital appointment. I get my bloods done in advance of hospital appointments, I'm rarely ill, have my annual eye screening, have my flu jabs, use 150+ test strips per month, and my HbA1c is if anything going down. Nothing to suggest that I'm 'non-compliant' or 'at risk'. I'm very polite when I query the appointment, I don't rant at them like this, much as I would like to! Just don't like them wasting taxpayers money and behaving as if Nurse Chocolate Teapot knows more about T1 than the specialist consultant does.