Anyone heard of any Libre shortages

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BenDot said:
Thank you, I was not aware of the VAR or VAT? relief. How does that work? Must I speak with Abbott first?

As I have 6 days left I found a French Pharmacy selling for 41 GBP each when I buy 4. But will have less recourse if it goes missing.
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Oops, my elderly iPad had a senior moment lol
I have edited to to VAT .

I’ll look up my link for Abbots Libre , I order mine online , you can also phone them

If you fit the criteria in the link @Bruce Stephens gave try contacting your DSN or consultant as a Gp or practice nurse are not allowed to prescribe them they would have to refer you .
 
Pharmacy delivered 4 sensors yesterday nearly 4 weeks after ordering.

Surprise was 4 not 2, originally prescribed 4 then changed to 2 by surgery, had words with manager before christmas after several failed attempts with practice staff, seems to have worked but for how long.
 
Abbott have just advised me that the current delay is two to three weeks from date of order. I'm only suppose to have one prescription per month and I only get 2 sensors (coverage for 28 days), so I'm unable to build up stocks of any spares. I ordered some on prescription on 12 January 2020, and I spoke to my pharmacist today who has no idea when they will be available. I notice I can still buy them on Amazon!

I think Diabetes UK should be campaigning to get this sorted. In the meantime I'm investigating the competition:
https://www.dexcom.com/en-GB

Am very worried about insulin etc. post Brexit.....
 
WhyDoWeHave2HaveAUserName said:
I think Diabetes UK should be campaigning to get this sorted.
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Not sure there's anything that DUK could do, though I guess an investigation wouldn't hurt, so we all know really what's going on. But my impression is that they're having some difficulties meeting demand (sales are way up) so there's shortages. I seem to remember reading that some NHS suppliers had flooded warehouses or something, which (if it's true) would also not help. (That's not mentioning three sensors that I ordered a couple of weeks back which Parcel Force have yet to deliver; the tracking showed there was a problem with my address but that that had been resolved, and then nothing more.)

For what little it's worth, I got my prescription sensors last week (from Boots) after a couple of weeks delay.

It's all very annoying and disruptive, but with any luck the volumes they need to produce will settle down and they'll be able to supply more reliably.
 
Yes it certainly seems to be a pharmacy warehouse / delivery chain problem. Sensors bought direct from Abbott aren’t affected, but the pharmacy distribution / warehousing is separate as I understand it.

Of course, pharmacy warehouse shortages for various things are nothing new. Most of the time when I’ve been told of a ‘manufacturing issue’ to explain a lack of availability of an item it has turned out to be nothing of the sort on further investigation. It’s almost always hiccups in the warehousing / distribution side of things.
 
I ordered mine a week past Friday and they weren't there Friday, they don't know when they will arrive but found out they offer a text service when prescriptions are ready so I've signed up for it now lol xx
 
I had an an interesting conversation with Abbott today. I wanted to order four sensors (I self fund). I was told there were some delays in delivery, which wasn't surprising. When he said how much was being taken from my debit card, I asked if he had omitted VAT. I said being a T1 diabetic meant that I was excused. He apologised profusely, and as he had put the payment through, he said my debit card would be credited with a refund. What he said next was " delivery will be 5-7 working days".

Just goes to show. If you have money, there's no problem. And there isn't a manufacturing problem either. This confirms everydayupsanddowns' post above. I don't see any reason why there is a supply problem, unless an artificial market status is being prepared for the introduction of Libre 2, which is supposed to happen this year.
 
A post was put on the Freestyle Libre Facebook Page today that Abbott is expecting the next shipment to the warehouse that deals with prescriptions in mid-February and will then be sending out sensors in order of when pharmacies requested the sensors. The “official” line is that it is a different warehouse for bought senors and that hasn’t been affected. When I needed a replacement sensor last week it arrived two days later but I’m still waiting for my prescription sensors three weeks after the prescription was sent to the pharmacy.
 
Put my prescription in Friday, picked two sensors up from pharmacy yesterday.
 
Put my prescription in on 13th January, still waiting, just over two weeks so far :(
 
Not sure if this has been posted on the thread but found this today...…………..


  • FreeStyle Libre sensors may be temporarily unavailable
    January 8, 2020

    Abbott have advised that they are experiencing some temporary supply problems with FreeStyle Libre sensors. Abbott has issued the following statement:
    ‘We are currently experiencing delays in fulfilling orders of the FreeStyle Libre sensors to some pharmacies in the UK. The delay is 2 to 3 weeks from date of order. We are doing all we can to expedite shipments in an effort to minimise any interruptions and are sorry for the inconvenience this may cause. Pharmacies will receive an e-mail with a tracking number when the product is dispatched.’
 
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Pumper_Sue said:
Not sure if this has been posted on the thread but found this today...…………..


  • FreeStyle Libre sensors may be temporarily unavailable
    January 8, 2020

    Abbott have advised that they are experiencing some temporary supply problems with FreeStyle Libre sensors. Abbott has issued the following statement:
    ‘We are currently experiencing delays in fulfilling orders of the FreeStyle Libre sensors to some pharmacies in the UK. The delay is 2 to 3 weeks from date of order. We are doing all we can to expedite shipments in an effort to minimise any interruptions and are sorry for the inconvenience this may cause. Pharmacies will receive an e-mail with a tracking number when the product is dispatched.’
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Does anyone else find it strange that it says , to some pharmacies in the uk, I wonder if said pharmacies haven’t paid their bill.
 
I ordered two on 8th Jan and still haven't heard anything, 3 weeks is up tomorrow so we'll see...
Luckily I’ve built up a stock of them (too many to be honest) so it won't matter much, and if all else fails I still have an account with Abbott and can buy some. So I’m not overly concerned at the moment but it's still annoying to be waiting for things with no information!
 
Sally71 said:
I ordered two on 8th Jan and still haven't heard anything, 3 weeks is up tomorrow so we'll see...
Luckily I’ve built up a stock of them (too many to be honest) so it won't matter much, and if all else fails I still have an account with Abbott and can buy some. So I’m not overly concerned at the moment but it's still annoying to be waiting for things with no information!
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I've got one sensor left, but have been back on the strips for the past few days as I don't want to be forced into using strips should it run out before I get the ones I have ordered - this way, at least it's my choice! 🙄 One thing I did find interesting is that my surgery has put me down for 4 sensors, which I can re-order once a month, I'm wondering if anyone has told them that each sensor lasts 14 days? 😱 🙂 Anyway, I may order some more almost straight away, just to have the security of some spares or at least a bit of a gap before I actually need them if delays continue 🙂
 
The information I have via the wife of someone who works for Abbot is that they changed factories and didn’t get the expected amount of production during the changeover period but it is now back up to usual levels. They have to deal with the backlog though so it will still take some time to catch up.
 
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