Buying a Tandem Tslim privately

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Mariafrancesca

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Type 1
Hi I am wondering if it is possible to buy the tandem tslim privately in the UK and if anyone has experience with this or knows approx prices
 
It's not possible to just buy an insulin pump in the UK, they are strictly prescription only items and you can only get one if your hospital diabetes team set up an account for you with the pump company. If your doctor won’t let you have one because of the cost, and you want to fund it yourself, you'd still have to get the doctor's support and get him to set up the account for you. I don’t know whether anyone has ever done this! But you can only have a pump if you have the ongoing support of a hospital team to help you with your diabetes control.
 
If your GP referred you to a private consultant (either self funding or under any private medical health care, like BUPA) presumably you could get one via that route, but it would be expensive.
 
I would very much doubt there are any Private Health Insurance in England that would cover Diabetes. As they usually exclude existing conditions.
 
grovesy said:
I would very much doubt there are any Private Health Insurance in England that would cover Diabetes. As they usually exclude existing conditions.
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You're right. I’m trying to think of what I meant! I think, ages ago, I read about the London Diabetes Centre which is a private clinic, and they did some form of scheme for diabetes, expensive, obviously, but if you paid into their scheme, it would give you acces to a pump (or any other treatment) if you needed it. So not exactly health insurance, more like the schemes that some private dentists run.
 
Robin said:
You're right. I’m trying to think of what I meant! I think, ages ago, I read about the London Diabetes Centre which is a private clinic, and they did some form of scheme for diabetes, expensive, obviously, but if you paid into their scheme, it would give you acces to a pump (or any other treatment) if you needed it. So not exactly health insurance, more like the schemes that some private dentists run.
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I would think that is not very common or wide spread.
I know when I paid for a Private X-ray and then my insurance decide they would pay for it, I think I paid about £ 200, but the cost to the Insurance Company got for bout £150.
 
I think you can buy them privately, but you’d need to also factor in the cost of pump consumables (sets and reservoirs, etc) Those aren’t cheap - £100+ for a box of 10 sets/cannulas last time I looked, which was a few years ago.

The pumps are generally £2000-£3500. I imagine the T Slim is at the higher end of that.

You’d also need to have the support of your diabetes team or pay for a private endo.

Have you asked whether you’d qualify for a pump on the NHS?
 
Robin said:
You're right. I’m trying to think of what I meant! I think, ages ago, I read about the London Diabetes Centre which is a private clinic, and they did some form of scheme for diabetes, expensive, obviously, but if you paid into their scheme, it would give you acces to a pump (or any other treatment) if you needed it. So not exactly health insurance, more like the schemes that some private dentists run.
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Yes, there is a private diabetes clinic at London Medical in Marylebone. I have been there to see my Moorfields eye consultant as he sees his private patients there. I have no experience of the diabetes clinic though, and I think it mainly caters for non-UK residents and visitors. I was told years ago, however, that the private sector is not really geared up for treating chronic conditions like diabetes. Although I expect that has changed in recent years with the big increase in non-doms living here, especially in London. Google London Medical and their website will probably show whether they can supply a pump.
 
Inka said:
I think you can buy them privately, but you’d need to also factor in the cost of pump consumables (sets and reservoirs, etc) Those aren’t cheap - £100+ for a box of 10 sets/cannulas last time I looked, which was a few years ago.

The pumps are generally £2000-£3500. I imagine the T Slim is at the higher end of that.

You’d also need to have the support of your diabetes team or pay for a private endo.

Have you asked whether you’d qualify for a pump on the NHS?
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Thank you for your replies. I definitely qualify for a pump but I am having a hard time with one diabetic specialist advocating against me as I struggle with anxiety and feels a pump would not help this (feels like discrimination to be honest). For context, I pay privately for DBT therapy to manage my anxiety and depression since diagnosis and my anxiety is directly related to the basal insulin lasting 12 hours (uncertainty of what could happen during this time) and nighttime lows after exercise, causing me to become extremely sedentary while increasing the anxiety and depression cycle. These are issues would be helped with the pump as increasing/decreasing basal rates is much easier and allow flexibility/spontaneity and piece of mind, and I know it would massively improve my quality of life.

But with COVID it’s very hard to be referred to another clinic which will actually support me, so feeling very helpless the hope was that a last case scenario could be to buy a pump privately.
 
Mariafrancesca said:
Thank you for your replies. I definitely qualify for a pump but I am having a hard time with one diabetic specialist advocating against me as I struggle with anxiety and feels a pump would not help this (feels like discrimination to be honest). For context, I pay privately for DBT therapy to manage my anxiety and depression since diagnosis and my anxiety is directly related to the basal insulin lasting 12 hours (uncertainty of what could happen during this time) and nighttime lows after exercise, causing me to become extremely sedentary while increasing the anxiety and depression cycle. These are issues would be helped with the pump as increasing/decreasing basal rates is much easier and allow flexibility/spontaneity and piece of mind, and I know it would massively improve my quality of life.

But with COVID it’s very hard to be referred to another clinic which will actually support me, so feeling very helpless the hope was that a last case scenario could be to buy a pump privately.
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I’m glad you’re getting help with your anxiety - it’s a horrible thing. Also, I’d imagine the fact you’re getting DBT would show you’re committed to improving it.

Frankly, I can’t see how having a pump would automatically make anxiety worse. My pump reduced my anxiety because I was scared to sleep due to nighttime hypos before I got my pump. For me, the main benefit of a pump is the ability to fine-tune basal according to your needs. It’s not a magic answer as it still requires work and, of course, sometimes your blood sugar will mess you round as always happens with diabetes, but it’s brilliant for basal.

Apart from saving you a lot of money, I’d think your best option is to change consultants and/or clinics and then see if you can get a pump on the NHS. Or you could try arguing your points with your current consultant, of course. This would entail you presenting evidence of why you qualify for a pump, how specifically it would benefit you, and how it would not worsen your anxiety. If you could also get support from the people involved in helping you with your anxiety, that would help eg your DBT therapist, your GP, etc.
 
They stated it is difficult getting reffered to other clinics at present.
 
grovesy said:
They stated it is difficult getting reffered to other clinics at present.
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It was more for the future @grovesy when things are more normal. My thought was that it would be sad for the OP to have to spend thousands of pounds when they might qualify for a free pump and consumables on the NHS.

I’m not sure how practical it would be to change teams now, and, of course, it depends what’s available near the OP. It might be that the wheels can be set in motion now even if nothing’s done till next year.
 
Mariafrancesca said:
Thank you for your replies. I definitely qualify for a pump but I am having a hard time with one diabetic specialist advocating against me as I struggle with anxiety and feels a pump would not help this (feels like discrimination to be honest). For context, I pay privately for DBT therapy to manage my anxiety and depression since diagnosis and my anxiety is directly related to the basal insulin lasting 12 hours (uncertainty of what could happen during this time) and nighttime lows after exercise, causing me to become extremely sedentary while increasing the anxiety and depression cycle. These are issues would be helped with the pump as increasing/decreasing basal rates is much easier and allow flexibility/spontaneity and piece of mind, and I know it would massively improve my quality of life.

But with COVID it’s very hard to be referred to another clinic which will actually support me, so feeling very helpless the hope was that a last case scenario could be to buy a pump privately.
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Hi Maria

I was refused a pump the first time as they thought I would worry too much. However I asked for their reasons in writing. Over the following 6 months I gathered evidence to address each of their concerns to support. I focused on the impact of only being able to use 1/2 units for Bolus and basal, and demonstrated how the increased accuracy that would be possible on the pump would increase my peace of mind, give more flexibility, increase my levels of activity with the increased confidence, and reduce the number of night hypos as I would be able to match the basal to my needs, rather than just rounding to the nearest half unit of my split Levemir. I was given a pump on the second time I asked.

It did indeed reduce my anxiety as I had a lot more control over my diabetes, both with basal and Bolus insulin doses. Life became far more flexible as I was able to temporarily change the basal rate for a period of time to match the level of activity, for example out for a walk. It improved my HbA1c and BP as I became more active. Later with a Libre I also found it helped me to increase my time in range.

With this increased focus it did lead to burn out for me after 9 years of diabetes. However that was more my setting unrealistic expectations of myself. I hope this helps.
 
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