Do you get your "Mandatory 8 annual diabetes checks"

[JJay]

In 20years I have never had Diabetic Eye Check, mine have been in numerous differnt locations, under auspices of my Local Diabetic Eye Screening Service.

I don’t think anybody gets those from a GP? The Eye Screening service where I lived previously used the surgery premises for annual checks, but that’s not quite the same thing

 

[rebrascora]

In 20years I have never had Diabetic Eye Check, mine have been in numerous differnt locations, under auspices of my Local Diabetic Eye Screening Service.

As I understand it, that is your diabetic eye check .... ie the Retinal screening. There are different arrangements for who does it and where that is provided in different areas. I believe some people are even referred to their local SpecSavers for it. Mine is provided by NHS staff at my local cottage hospital which is a 3 miles walk away, so ideal for me.

 

[Proud to be erratic]

I get all of mine. The Medical Centre has recently rearranged its process, so the checks are triggered by my birth month and some checks done a few months apart (ignoring the retinal screening which happens elsewhere). I'm content with both the former arrangement and new process. I'm invited to book online and this year had plenty of date choices. It all works.

 

[AndBreathe]

Invited for a review. There's a concept.

It'll never catch on, or at least it hasn't where I live.

 

[Sharron1]

The Mandatory 8 annual diabetes checks were mentioned on another thread which made me wonder how many people get these every year.
As a reminder, these are

View attachment 35860

I don't get all of these every year but I wonder if that is because
- I have never said "yes" to the smoking question so they made the (correct) assumption this has not changed
- I am (and look) slim so my BMI check is usually calculated by asking me my height and weight rather than measuring it.
- I am very active including lots of walking so it is assumed my feet are fine and not checked

The last time i turned up for my annual blood test (yes, this bit does seem to be annual), I was surprised when the phlebotomist got out a heart pressure cuff and measured my blood pressure. She then got me to take off my shoes to weigh me and check my height.
The smoking question may have been posed but my feet were not checked.

How about others on the forum?
Do you get all of your 8 annual diabetes checks or do some of them feel more optional than mandatory?

I get the checks, but I supply the BP, weight, height and BMI. I don't smoke. cholestrol, Hba1c, kidney function,feet checked all done at surgery in annual test. Added excitement is the Qrisk 2 percentage, but that is such a silly measure, we decided to give it a bit of a nod and leave it alone.

 

[John Gray]

Added excitement is the Qrisk 2 percentage

Apparently there is a QRISK3-2018 risk calculator, which obviously must be better than QRISK-2!

 

[helli]

Apparently there is a QRISK3-2018 risk calculator, which obviously must be better than QRISK-2!

I still don't like it.
It compares me with a "healthy person".
But I am healthy. Type 1 diabetes with a HBA1c lower than the pre-diabetes threshold does not make me unhealthy. It makes me healthier because I am more aware.

I really should avoid the temptation to enter my details because I know it will annoy me.

At least it has another "go faster stripe" compared to QRISK2.

 

[JimG]

I have all the checks, at least they are all checked off when I look at the GP record. I'm not sure if I'm asked the smoking question every time. My feet checks are always carried out at the GP but I also have six monthly checks with the podiatry service. These alternate between face to face and phone. My only complaint is the retinal screening which, because of recent activity should be every six months but ends up being annual. One doctor told me in the past that she used to put down six months knowing that, because of delays, it would end up being 12 months for the next appointment.

 

[SB2015]

About a week before my birthday I get a letter asking me to make an appointment for the tests (all of them are done) and also to make a follow up appointment with the nurse who specialises in diabetes. We have a good catch up and I update her on my looping. She is also an excellent support emotionally when needed.

The checks at GP used to fall neatly half way between the annual check at the hospital, but the hospital appointments have drifted a bit so now out of synch. They serve different purposes and I know that I can get an extra HbA1c done if necessary, although the hospital don’t focus on that at all and it is all TIR now

 

[SimonP]

Apparently there is a QRISK3-2018 risk calculator, which obviously must be better than QRISK-2!

It's based on an extended dataset, there are some other modifications too. The one thing to note is that there are very very few T1 diabetics included in the data.

Therefore, imho, the rather large factor that is applied when ticking the box for "diabetes" in the tool/code isn't particularly sound if you sit in one of the distribution tails of e.g. HbA1c (as the mean value in the UK is pretty terrible) - I would hope a future tool might take HbA1c into account, but I expect there are currently too few patient data points available to make this useful.

Plus telling people they are more at risk than they actually are is one way of getting them to do what they are told.

P.S. Yes, I get all of my checks here in Somerset.

 

[freesia]

I get all checks done but strangely, over the last two years they have been spread over different appointments. The first one has been blood tests and questions re drink, smoking, exercise etc. The next appointment has been a foot check and general chat with another nurse (who seems to know slightly more about D), a follow up with the GP as my BP has been raised lately and then theres the appointment for the eye screening (ejich last year said i had background retinopathy). Why the first two appointments can't done done together i don't know. I check the results on the NHS app anyway.

 

[louisew]

The Mandatory 8 annual diabetes checks were mentioned on another thread which made me wonder how many people get these every year.
As a reminder, these are

View attachment 35860

I don't get all of these every year but I wonder if that is because
- I have never said "yes" to the smoking question so they made the (correct) assumption this has not changed
- I am (and look) slim so my BMI check is usually calculated by asking me my height and weight rather than measuring it.
- I am very active including lots of walking so it is assumed my feet are fine and not checked

The last time i turned up for my annual blood test (yes, this bit does seem to be annual), I was surprised when the phlebotomist got out a heart pressure cuff and measured my blood pressure. She then got me to take off my shoes to weigh me and check my height.
The smoking question may have been posed but my feet were not checked.

How about others on the forum?
Do you get all of your 8 annual diabetes checks or do some of them feel more optional than mandatory?

Yes full blood work and urine, feet, bp and weight with my dN. Discussion of hbac1 meds etc, every year. Previously also a 6 month hbac1 test, but she hasn’t called me up this year. Possibly because my hbac1 is ‘normal’ (with meds) and i have no other issues with bp weight heart, etc. Eyes, at least yearly, currently on 6 month check. We always have an great in depth chat about everything, she’s fab

 

[helli]

I have just realised these only mention the checks that are done but nothing about what follows.
Some folks are describing the chats they have with their DSN and their medication reviews.
My DSN and GP only want to meet me if there are any issues flagged by the tests. Otherwise they do a “virtual review” which does not involve the patient.

This is at the GP surgery. I also get a 18 monthly pump review at the hospital.

 

[louisew]

I have just realised these only mention the checks that are done but nothing about what follows.
Some folks are describing the chats they have with their DSN and their medication reviews.
My DSN and GP only want to meet me if there are any issues flagged by the tests. Otherwise they do a “virtual review” which does not involve the patient.

This is at the GP surgery. I also get a 18 monthly pump review at the hospital.

My DN always invites me in for an appointment and a lovely chat . She likes me, because of how proactive I am. She says that I’m her ‘unique patient, and speaks about me at the Practice Diabetes meetings. I tell her about all the great support and info I’ve got off this website. I think I’m pretty lucky to have her

 

[goodybags]

I would say since covid I don’t actually get all 8 at a one time visit to the surgery
but
more recently I do feel I get extremely good care & support than I ever used to


I can, if I want to raise a request online with my own (or the GP at my practice) that oversees all Diabetics at that surgery he also phones me regularly usually every few months especially since I’ve been on increasing ammount of Mounjaro / decreasing my insulin (recently stopped)
I’m also still under a Endocrinologist at NGH
as I have retinopathy I’m under the DMO clinic and currently get seen every 6-8 weeks and have been for something like about 10 years (and have had various treatments)

I see a podiatrist at the same healthcare canter as my GP is based in and also that podiatrist is part of the high risk foot care team I have previously seen as have had on previous occasion a under on my foot, they know I was extremely concerned as they were at it’s slow healing although it did fully heal and any problems since have quickly cleared up following a few visits to eaither the foot care team or the podiatrist

Im also lucky enough to have an email address and phone number for the DSN that covers this area

I occasionally get a phone call asking how my blood pressure is
plus also either by interactive message or over the phone asthma review

GP or Endo’ usually contacts me for routine blood tests approx every 6 months, sometimes every 3 months having previously shown signs of liver and kidneys not being so healthy (however they seem ok these days)

 

[Bruce Stephens]

Some folks are describing the chats they have with their DSN and their medication reviews.
My DSN and GP only want to meet me if there are any issues flagged by the tests. Otherwise they do a “virtual review” which does not involve the patient.

I'm always offered an in-person appointment because that's also when they check BP and my feet. We talk about the various test results and review the medication (presumably the next one will involve a discussion of Levemir, though I'm not sure there's any national advice yet on what to do).

 

[Bloden]

I'm in South West Wales and get all the checks annually, except for eye screening which is now done every 2 years. I get the eye screening done privately every other year cos eyesight is too important to wait 2 years IMHO.

 

[Woodywoodpecker]

I’m still under diabetic clinic at hospital, on last visit was told would now be once a year for everything apart from eye screening, which I get at cottage hospital in my town

 

[soupdragon]

Most of my checks are carried out at the diabetes hospital clinic. I'm sent a blood test/urine sample test form to be done about a week before the appointment. Blood pressure, height, weight and HBA1C fingerprick test at hospital clinic. Sometimes the GP surgery has requested blood tests/urine sample as well but there seems be less overlap now.
The only thing that has changed is the foot check. I had podiatry appointments for a few years (dodgy toenails after long hospital stay - I blame the compression stockings). After being discharged (back to the GP in theory) this is also done by the hospital clinic. I had my feet checked last year at the consultant appointment. This year the foot check involved being asked if there were any problems with my feet.