Freestyle Libre in North Wales

[Baz]

Hi all. Just a simple question regarding Freestyle Libre availability: We're intending to move to Llandudno in Wales and I need to know if Freestyle Libre is being supplied on prescription there yet; I understand Wales may still be behind England prescribing it? It's very unlikely any surgery there will provide this information to non patients, so I'm asking here. Thanks for any replies. Barry.

 

[Inka]

Hi and welcome @Baz 🙂 I can’t answer your question as I don’t use the Libre but many members here do. You might get more responses with a thread title that refers to your question. A moderator should be able to change it for you if you wish to do so.

 

[mikeyB]

The criteria for Wales are the same as for England.

http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/Documents/814/FreeStyleLibreGlucoseMonitoringHTWstatementv1.1Nov2017.pdf

I self fund, as it happens, partly because I can buy 6 sensors at once, whereas on prescription you only get two. It’s just one less thing to worry about.

 

[Kaylz]

Pretty sure it's a UK wide thing so Wales wouldn't be behind at all as a home nation, @Bloden are you getting yours on prescription?

@mikeyB not true, you can request to receive more at a time to save constantly reordering and picking up, before I was changed to a serial prescription I spoke to my GP who agreed to allow me 4 per reorder

 

[helli]

I self fund, as it happens, partly because I can buy 6 sensors at once, whereas on prescription you only get two. It’s just one less thing to worry about.

As I have to pick up insulin and test strips, picking up a months worth of prescriptions at the same time is not an issue.
I always order Libre when I apply my penultimate one to ensure I have a spare.
My surgery do not appear to keep close tabs on when I order them so I am sure I could build up a bigger backlog if I wanted.

 

[Bloden]

Hiya @Baz. I‘ve been getting the sensors on prescription since the start of 2018, first in Swansea and then in South Pembrokeshire.

Isn’t there a website with a UK map that shows where sensors are available on the NHS? Maybe @everydayupsanddowns or @Northerner would know.

 

[Baz]

The criteria for Wales are the same as for England.

http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/Documents/814/FreeStyleLibreGlucoseMonitoringHTWstatementv1.1Nov2017.pdf

I self fund, as it happens, partly because I can buy 6 sensors at once, whereas on prescription you only get two. It’s just one less thing to worry about.

Thanks for that. I realize the criteria is the same but some time ago I learned that it was more difficult to get this on prescription there as they were somewhat behind England. It's good, for me, to know they're available there. Thanks.

 

[MrDaibetes]

Wales was the first people to start prescribing it well South, but yeh it should be fine.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hope you are able to access Libre without any problems.

The access map I remembered was an NHS England one, and didn’t cover Wales unfortunately

FreeStyle Libre access map created - The Diabetes Times

A map documenting where the FreeStyle Libre has been made available to people with type 1 diabetes has been created.

diabetestimes.co.uk