Getting a pump

[ELack]

Hi
Just wondering if anyone has information on getting a pump? I have been diabetic now for nearly 23 years and have been using injections but would now like to get a pump as injecting is becoming painful. What is the criteria for getting a pump?
Thanks in advance

 

[Bruce Stephens]

It depends on your CCG. (When I checked mine they said they used the NICE guidance.) By coincidence I looked it up not long ago. There was a question about the proportion of women vs men using a pump; the ratio turns out to be 2:1, roughly, most likely because diabetes is harder to control if you're female. Out of curiosity I looked to see if I might qualify, and there's no chance (at least, I wouldn't qualify according to the NICE guidance).

It also depends (as many things do) on what your local team thinks would be best for you, and having problems injecting might well be enough. (It probably ought to be.)

1 Recommendations | Continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion for the treatment of diabetes mellitus | Guidance | NICE

www.nice.org.uk

 

[ELack]

T

It depends on your CCG. (When I checked mine they said they used the NICE guidance.) By coincidence I looked it up not long ago. There was a question about the proportion of women vs men using a pump; the ratio turns out to be 2:1, roughly, most likely because diabetes is harder to control if you're female. Out of curiosity I looked to see if I might qualify, and there's no chance (at least, I wouldn't qualify according to the NICE guidance).

It also depends (as many things do) on what your local team thinks would be best for you, and having problems injecting might well be enough. (It probably ought to be.)

1 Recommendations | Continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion for the treatment of diabetes mellitus | Guidance | NICE

www.nice.org.uk

This is great thank you for your help!

 

[trophywench]

Well I agree that it is in the final hands of the CCG, since it is to them that the bills go - my pump co, Roche usually send me a copy of the invoices for my boxes of whatever I needed to order, but the invoices are addressed to Coventry CCG.

However - no patient can seek funding for himself - his clinician has to apply for funding on his behalf. So the thing to do is talk to your clinician, cos if they agree with you it's a good idea and would help you, the CCG won't argue since they are not your - or anyone else on the 'list for pumps this time' - clinician.

It's not like you are asking for £1m anyway - £2-3,000 upfront and then the ongoing cost of consumables which they know already from other folk BUT frankly since my life depends on them, lets make sure they are manufactured to a high standard even if it costs a bit more.

Been a number of complaints on here (so will have been in other places) too about the c**p standard of certain pen needles being burred or bent or blocked recently - and it is simply NOT acceptable, even if they do save the NHS a couple of quid a year per patient. I know collectively that equals a lot of money but if it makes every damned jab a) painful and b) damaging to the patients skin and therefore absorption of the life giving fluid - it is false economy. Here endeth the rant.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @ELack

I’ve just posted a link with a step-by-step process from INPUT (now part of JDRF). It has links and quotes of relevant documentation, and a description of the process.

Can I get an insulin pump on the NHS? - JDRF

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, providing you meet certain criteria, the answer to whether you can get an insulin pump on the NHS is yes!

jdrf.org.uk

Hope it helps 🙂

 

[SB2015]

Welcome to the forum @ELack

Let us know how you get on. I was refused a pump the first time that I asked. I asked for the reasons, got a list of the local criteria and then gathered data to address each of the relevant issues. 6 months later I got agreement for a pump. I did then have to wait a while for a place on the next pump start training available.