Diabetic care in general from gp practice.

Annette&Bert

Annette&Bert

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Every tgree months I go to my gp practice where a nurse takes my blood to have my levels tested, she is nit a diabetic nurse. A week or so later when the results are back an appointment is made for me to see the diabetic nurse for the results. She gives me them we have a discussion, she decides with me whether to have more or different kind of meds.

I woukd like to know if this is the same for everyone?
i have never had my weight recorded, my BP taken or my legs and feet looked at.
 
Having quarterly HbA1c is unusual long term but generally happens until levels are better managed and ore stable and a treatment plan has been established. Generally it is every 6 months or yearly for blood tests once the initial diagnostic period is over I believe
Aas regards foot checks and BP and weight, this should be happening annually as well as retinal screening. Hopefully you are getting that, but you definitely should be getting those other checks annually. Perhaps you suffer white coat syndrome and have an agreement to monitor your blood pressure at home instead of getting it checked a the surgery or this is recorded on your notes, but you should be getting your ankle/foot pulses checked and toes tickled each year. Do ask why these checks are not being done as it is important to pick up any changes early to prevent long term damage.
 
My GP surgery invites me to have blood taken twice a year by the phlebotomist (different to the surgery nurse and nothing to do with diabetes). The surgery based DSN reviews the results and contacts me if she is not happy with them.
The surgery has never looked at my feet (or even asked if they are ok) but they have taken my blood pressure once in the 20 years since I was diagnosed.

Every 15 months or so, I am invited to visit the hospital based endocrinology clinic to see someone who knows about Type 1, CGMs and my pump (the GP surgery based DSN does not) where my blood pressure is taken and occasionally my feet are tickled. Sometimes they weigh me, sometimes they don't. They rely on the results of the last set of surgery based bloods.

Retinal screening is done annually by a completely different team at a completely different clinic.

I have not had a quarterly appointment since initial diagnosis.

I think the conclusion is ... it varies.
 
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Annette&Bert said:
Every tgree months I go to my gp practice where a nurse takes my blood to have my levels tested, she is nit a diabetic nurse. A week or so later when the results are back an appointment is made for me to see the diabetic nurse for the results. She gives me them we have a discussion, she decides with me whether to have more or different kind of meds.

I woukd like to know if this is the same for everyone?
i have never had my weight recorded, my BP taken or my legs and feet looked at.
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No I wouldn't think so. I have my Hba1c discussed. I am weighed, height taken, blood pressure taken and feet looked at and prodded every year in my case
 
Thanks folks. It used to be every six months, but I had many ups and downs and awful side effects with meds, so that's when it became quarterly. They check my weight annually and my bp.
 
I have my Bloods done at least twice a year, the HCA that takes the bloods, does the weight , feet check, and blood pressure at least once a year. Then I have the follow up either in person or phone with the Diabetic Nurse with the blood results a short time later.
 
Once a year for me. It had a blood test after 3 months, then a second 3 months after that and was then told it was a year.
 
Annette&Bert said:
I woukd like to know if this is the same for everyone?
i have never had my weight recorded, my BP taken or my legs and feet looked at.
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Good that you are getting regular appointments and they are keeping a close eye on how you are getting on with meds.

It’s a bit odd that some of your annual checks aren’t happening though. You should usually expect to have your feet checked, your weight, and BP recorded at least once a year?
 
I have a yearly check up with my diabetes nurse, blood , wee , height ,weight , feet checked visually and with an ultrasound and tickle tested, I do my own blood pressure testing at home and she is happy to use these as I suffer from white coat syndrome and my blood pressure goes crazy while I'm at the surgery . Next one is booked for beginning of October .
 
Postcode lottery I think - My GP is very good - I have an annual review including bloods from the practice nurse - with Height, weight, BP, feet checked, injection sites checked - and this is followed up with an annual review from DSN (approx 6m later) at the hospital where she looks at my data from Libreview as well as all the aforementioned - only have one HbA1c check a year though (and it's always a couple more than what Libre says) - Retina checks annually too (thankfully, it stings!!)
 
I seem to recall I had HbA1c every six months for a long time. The only person who ever loojs at my feet is my chiropodist who I go to privately every six or eight weeks, she used to work at the clinic in my tiwn of the NHS where diabetics were sent with foot problems so she us very knowledgeable. I had not been happy with my diabetic meds but I did get on well with Trulicity which I took together with Metformin until it became unavailable so now on Rybelsus I think combined with this is perhaps the reason the DN has seen me more regularly. I have Venous Insufficiency as well as Periphoral Arterial Disease in my legs, but it only shows in my right leg, I don't have leg ulcers because I take great care of my legs and moisturise them well, but I know my feet are not as they once were. I have been told as long as I take care of the skin on my legs I need never have ulcers. I also have Aortic Stenosis and was advised to have valve replacement, however I have refused.
Yes I also have my diabetic retinopathy check annually. I have only been with thus gp practice since 2019 and don't rate them.
 
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It's the same for me as well.A nurse would take my blood and when they get the results my diabetic nurse Helen would contact me to discuss the findings.
 
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Martin62 said:
I have a yearly check up with my diabetes nurse, blood , wee , height ,weight , feet checked visually and with an ultrasound and tickle tested, I do my own blood pressure testing at home and she is happy to use these as I suffer from white coat syndrome and my blood pressure goes crazy while I'm at the surgery . Next one is booked for beginning of October .
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That’s the set of checks I get too. 12 monthly at the GP, then I also get an annual pump clinic at the hospital. I try to keep them 6 months apart, but they always seem to drift together with delays etc
 
I get no gp input for my diabetes...just the clinic. Oh, and flu/covid jabs, statins
 
Martin62 said:
I have a yearly check up with my diabetes nurse, blood , wee , height ,weight , feet checked visually and with an ultrasound and tickle tested, I do my own blood pressure testing at home and she is happy to use these as I suffer from white coat syndrome and my blood pressure goes crazy while I'm at the surgery . Next one is booked for beginning of October .
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I know exactly what you mean …WCS
My BP is always off the scale in Drs surgery they use different machines and different staff but it’s still high! The highest recorded was 235/145
But I’m still here to tell the tale
I have no idea how high it can possibly go before you keel over.
And apart from feeling stressed and WCS anxious I felt “normal”.
 
at my last check up i was told that it was now policy to hold the diabetes review annually on your birthday. Not sure i'm 100% happy with this but I guess i can raise any concerns whilst having my quarterly Vitamin B12 injection or go on line and fill in the request an appointment form, which will then be triaged before an appointment is booked.
 
My HbA1c is done every 3 or 6 months. I home monitor my BP and weight every 6 months. My feet are checked annually, and my eyes at hospital annually
 
My eyes checked annually at my opticians, My BP is always high when it us checked at hospital where I have cardiologist appointments, but at hone it is normal. I feel they only go by how it reads at hospital , however, which annoys me because I can't prove it's ok at home. I have had sight problems since birth so I have actually been attending the eye clinic for 22 years now as my sight was getting problems, but in the last two years I've had a new problem in that I now have wet macular which means I go very regularly for injections in my left eye, which incidentally, is my main sight so even more important.
 
martindt1606 said:
at my last check up i was told that it was now policy to hold the diabetes review annually on your birthday. Not sure i'm 100% happy with this but I guess i can raise any concerns whilst having my quarterly Vitamin B12 injection or go on line and fill in the request an appointment form, which will then be triaged before an appointment is booked.
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My well woman annual check is always around my birthday in May ( near the end as I refuse to make the appointments on the actual day itself!! That wouldn't be a recipe for birthday joy!) and that's when my first blood test showed T2 so subsequent annual reviews will fall around then (even though it took until July to get a confirmation hba1c and official diagnosis). At the moment I've been told it'll be 'big' review in May and an interim mini review in November each year. I suppose the November ones after this year might be dependent on how managed it all is.

I've had my foot review and kidney check and I have my eye screen on Friday. I also received my invite to a 6 week course in November (although I'm in the process of changing jobs so have asked to move it to the new year).

I don't feel like information has been easily available but referrals have been prompt.
 
My GP surgery also uses my birthday as he review time. But they give me about 3 weeks notice so I can choose to book the appointment before or after.
At least I think it is on my birthday but I also have a 6 month review on the day I was diagnosed which is exactly 6 months before/after my birthday.
 
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