Type of test strips Entitlement ?

i would like to think u have the option to pick to carry on with current meter but honestly i dont know how u stand im sure someone will know tho

anna marie

Hi Alistair, if it makes financial sense for your PG surgery to buy from one supplier at a large discount then I dont see that as a problem as it will ultimately make more money available for medications that perhaps might otherwise not be on the menu at all.

I do though think that there is a clear breach of patient confidentiality in allowing your medical records to be handled by what amounts to a salesman and I would think about making a complaint first to the practice manager and if no satisfactory explanation is forthcoming then to your local heath care trust. There may also be an infringement of the data control act also. :evil:

There has definitely been a breach of the data protection act for which the practice could be fined anything up to £50 000 per complaint. Data can only be used for the purpose for which it was collected. There has also been a breach of your medical confidentiality. Perhaps this might give you some leverage in terms of trying to continue with your preferred testing regime?!

Tracy

as far as i am aware, your medical records since being uploaded to the nhs spine are available freely to any group undertaking scientific research or other body who can demonstrate a clinical interest in their use. This was "allowed" a while ago when all clinical files were uploaded to the nhs spine as it was called at the time, but not many people were made aware of the facts. A few people did make a noise at the time and quietly were told to send a letter requesting their details not to be uploaded, and they would be ommitted from this new computor system. The downside was if you declined this permission and were hospitalised your records would not be available to the hospital for assistance in your care.... a bit of a catch 22 situation...there was no choice in not allowing your private health records being viewed by the non nhs individuals which ranged from university studies to companies with an interest in developing health products to the nhs or local government bodies. From what i can remember it was all linked in with statutory regulations brought about to enable the id cards to be allowed.
something that never arrived but sadly all the intrusive regulations to invade ones personal life all still neatly in place!! car insurers are picking up on this now and checking ones records for non declaration i believe. The time was when a court order was needed to see your medical records, sadly the " if youve got nothing to hide" brigade put an end to that thing called privacy.

But this instance wasn't for research or a clinical interest in their use. Abbot rep did NOT technically have a clinical interest in their use, only a 'sell' for their product-I do not believe that would be seen as a clinical interest.
However.....
I had the same sort of thing, where my hospital purchased one type of pump from one manufacturer, and I wasn't given a choice of pump at all. Saying that, I do believe that I had the best choice of pump, and am very happy with it, it was an excellent choice by the hospital. I didn't have to pay for it, and it was a brilliant choice.

I see that the NHS have to save money, and 'buying in bulk' for meters could be more cost effective for them. This has been going on though for many, many years, as I felt myself lucky that when I was diagnosed I had to pay (or rather my dad did!!) £100 for a meter-and I wasn't given a choice of meter then either. Nowadays we can be given meters free of charge, so what would we rather be doing paying or accepting freebies. £100 for a meter 25 years ago was ALOT of money, my house then only cost £18,000 to buy, so propertionally to todays money value's, meters could actually be ALOT more.

The data aspect of giving out details of patients to a rep for a 'selling' point does concern me, but changing of meters to keep costs down, which will allow money to be used elsewhere has to make sense in ANY business, not just the NHS. Any PLC or Limited Company outside the NHS would be acting in the same way, so I can't blame the NHS for trying to limit where they spend moneys etc...

The only other thing that may be worth while looking at, is the cost of strips from the abbot meter to the USB one....if Abbots strips are more expensive then it would not make true financial sense. I don't know the costs involved with strips though...

I've had exactly the same problem and I'm boiling mad. My doctor is saying that he won't prescribe test strips for my Freestyle meter anymore; it's not him you understand, it's the PCT. He gave me a TrueResult twist meter which is awful; it's way too small and sits on top of the strip bottle so you have to take it apart to get the strips out. It also has no date or time function so despite it's memory is useless unless you record instantly. My biggest concern however is that I frequently test in the evening when I'm out at the theatre, concerts or when I'm dancing and this meter has no light to able me to use it in darkened facilities.

I know when Type 2 diabetics are being refused strips that complaining about my meter and restrictions of choice seems awful but it is going to have a big impact on my lifestyle.

If I could get prescriptions for strip I wouldn't give a rat's bum which kind I wound up with.
However, I wouldn't be too cuffed about my details being given to some snot-nosed pharma-rep.

Once u get past the relentless questioning of the receptionist I get as many strips as I need. However I do object to being asked how I manage my condition by someone who clearly knows nothing about it. I'm Type 1 and have been for 20 yrs

Just received a letter from GP surgery quoting Hertfordshire NHS Guidance on HBGM

The full guidance is here
http://www.hertschs.nhs.uk/Library/Adul ... _FINAL.pdf

but they don't give you a link to it!

Instead they say that "widespread research at national health guidelines..." and "not appropriate in people not on insulin" and " ...limited to 50 strips per year".

The leaflet they refer to is actually pages 113 and 114 of the 117 page guidance listed above. It does not mention "only 50 strips per year".

If you read the full clinical guidance it actually lists those on Exenatide plus Gliclazide as at risk of hypos and those with kidney disease as also needing to test regularly.

It seems wholly inadequate that GP surgeries are sending out such misinformation to groups of people who plainly need to carry on testing.

:roll:

The leaflet they refer to is actually pages 113 and 114 of the 117 page guidance listed above. It does not mention "only 50 strips per year".

Click to expand...

True, but the leaflet actually says that only patients on insulin should get a prescription for test strips, so 50/year is actually more than the leaflet recommends.
[Never mind that the leaflet says that a pack of 50 will expire 4 months after opening, so realistically they'd need to prescribe 150/year.]

Also, the leaflet says

self-monitoring may not lead to better control of blood glucose levels if not used as an integral part of self-management education

Click to expand...

Of course, the sensible thing to do here is to cut test strip prescriptions, and not to use blood testing as an integral part of self-management education.

Without having read those studies, I'd agree with you if only because HbA1C twice a year seem inadequate to detect "poor control" that would require frequent blood testing (according to the leaflet) and, possibly, a change in medication.

Yes the leaflet (2 pages sent out of 117 page document - like they think they will pull the wool over our eyes) says "only those on insulin" but the document itself recommends "those on Exenatide [INJ] and Gliclazide" should test also. The point being is they sent this to a patient on the latter with no reference to actual prescribed medication apart from looking to see that test strips had been prescribed!

Not only a waste of time but also could be detrimental to patient care.

Its just another part of the blind accelerated drive to cut costs in the NHS without any regard for patient safety or welfare.