Diabetics clinic

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EmmaG

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Hi all! Can I just ask if anyone else is having problems getting diabetic check up clinics. My son was diagnosed 2 years ago and has just moved to adult clinic aged 17 in August. He has had 1 appointment and the last one in Feb was cancelled due to consultant being off long term sick. They are unable to say when he will get a clinic appointment.
I complained to the hospital and their response was either ask GP to refer to another hospital or phone 111 for treatment. Really!! Is this the case elsewhere?
Take care,
Emma
 
annually is normal here but I’d have thought they’d be more like 6 monthly maybe for a 17 yr old?
 
Unfortunately the clinics are overloaded with work due to Covid which seems to have generated an increase in cases of diabetes in new patients as well as causing crisis for patients who suffered acute Covid infections. The clinic staff have to cover the wards as well as outpatient clinics and it takes time to train new staff, so there is a massive problem particularly at some clinics. I know from speaking to my own consultant that he is well aware that they are falling far short of the care that he would like to offer and that is very stressful. I believe the jump from juvenile to adult care can be quite a shock for some people as there simply is not the level of support that there is for children.

Learning to manage your condition as well as you can yourself is now even more important than ever and that is where this forum comes into it's own as there is so much practical knowledge and experience here that it easily rivals that of the staff at a diabetic clinic in my experience, you just have to learn how to explain the difficulty and carefully experiment on yourself to find which response works best for you.... or your son in this case. Is he having difficulty with something specific or is he just feeling a bit cut loose and vulnerable with not having the more regular support? If there is an urgent problem....something like persistent nocturnal hypos, then does your clinic have a helpline where you can leave a message and someone will ring you back within a day or two.
 
The jump to adult care is huge and it’s not unusual to feel adrift compared to paediatric services even without the additional problems with your specific clinic. It’s worth a chat with the GP about options and can travel to a different trust then that’s a good option.
 
Many thanks for your responses. Luckily my son is in good health currently and we do have a helpline number but we are now putting more strain on GP services as we have to get his bloods checked. I appreciate the NHS are under stress but it just feels like now he has a Libre his appointments are not a priority and we have been cast adrift. Thanks everyone for your support this forum has been a lifeline on many occasions especially when we were newbies to everything.
Take care,
 
Round here, at least, T1 people with insulin pumps still get seen regularly by the hospital D clinic. I was asked some time ago if I still wanted to visit 6 monthly or annual and replied that I'd prefer twice a year, so I still do. But anyway- when I go I am automatically handed the blood/urine test forms to have the tests in time to have been done in time and ready for my next appt. So, I just have to arrange a phlebotomy appt and turn up for it with said forms the results of which are recorded by the lab on my patient record but which I cannot access and hence have to write them down when they tell me them when I go next time. So, have to see the vampire 3 weeks-ish before the clinic appt.

This does NOT involve my GP surgery, as they don't offer phlebotomy services now.
 
EmmaG said:
Hi all! Can I just ask if anyone else is having problems getting diabetic check up clinics. My son was diagnosed 2 years ago and has just moved to adult clinic aged 17 in August. He has had 1 appointment and the last one in Feb was cancelled due to consultant being off long term sick. They are unable to say when he will get a clinic appointment.
I complained to the hospital and their response was either ask GP to refer to another hospital or phone 111 for treatment. Really!! Is this the case elsewhere?
Take care,
Emma
Click to expand...

Anything urgent ring diabetes clinic up then ask to speak with a DSN, from own experience they are as good as a consultant, if one isn't available they'll likely ring you back later on.
 
I know care varies across the country, but here I am now having 6 monthly clinic appointments (some via phone, others face to face as appropriate/required). I get HbA1c (and other blood tests) every 6 months at my GP with annual BP, feet checks, etc. also at my GP. Retinal screening is done annually, the last couple have been at a temporary clinic in a local community hall.

As I am under care of the diabetes team at the hospital, I can also call them any time for advice or help. They have been brilliant at calling back after I left a voicemail with a query, so can’t fault the care available.

I hope you can get into a system of consistent care for your son. But as @rebrascora says, there is a wealth of information on this forum and always people willing to offer their advice based on practical experience.
 
EmmaG said:
Hi all! Can I just ask if anyone else is having problems getting diabetic check up clinics. My son was diagnosed 2 years ago and has just moved to adult clinic aged 17 in August. He has had 1 appointment and the last one in Feb was cancelled due to consultant being off long term sick. They are unable to say when he will get a clinic appointment.
I complained to the hospital and their response was either ask GP to refer to another hospital or phone 111 for treatment. Really!! Is this the case elsewhere?
Take care,
Emma
Click to expand...
It is up here never had a face to face assessment for over 3 years . Had bloods done in January. Still waiting on a call rang them . No joy . I've been type 1 for 56 years. Never known it this bad . I'm in Sunderland
 
Sorry to hear you are feeling as though your son has been cast adrift, @EmmaG - he is not alone, I think the NHS is under so much pressure at the moment. I'm actually really surprised that there are people here who are still being seen every 6 months, or indeed every year.

I last saw a consultant in 2017 so it's pretty horrendous here, though not quite as bad as that sounds as I did get offered an appointment last year, for the first time in 5 years. I'm vulnerable and thanks to allergies I'm also unvaccinated so didn't want to go into a hospital so regretfully turned it down. I then tried emailing DSNs to ask if it was possible to have online rather than face-to-face consultation and I never heard back from them. Thankfully we have a competent diabetes nurse at our surgery, otherwise I'd have no NHS input into my diabetes at all (got my eye photos done privately last year, my choice as it felt safer for me).
 
Adult care is a disgrace, were on our own. My hospital wheels out a 70 year old, with a minder. He says one thing, the minder then corrects him, he mainly just shrugs his shoulders. All they care about is hba1c, which as we know means nowt if your high 50% low 50% your good to go in their books, kerching, they get paid. Diabetic nurse at drs told me she knows very little about type 1... Good luck, child care is, or was, second to none with my daughter, they were excellent.
 
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