Hello Jonathan G
Abbott were NOT quick at sending replacements between c. Feb '21 to c. Jul 22. Their representatives on the phone lines were clearly constrained by "the script of responses they had to follow" and 7 working days was their "norm". At least my expectations were managed, albeit not with a solution that was satisfactory for me. If there is now an improvement on their service delivery that, of course would be welcome - but wouldn't change my opinion that adult Patients and carers of minors should be allowed to hold a reserve.
I'm confused by your remark about this person (me [and I don't take sugar[) reporting failures all along. Who, exactly do you think I should have been reporting these failures to? In theory Abbott already knew, since their records showed I was regularly requesting replacements. Reporting anything to the NHS is not just a waste of time and energy, there is no evidence that somebody with responsibility even knows what the users have to tolerate.
Curiously, because I had a thoroughly unpleasant 1st year without CGM I did at least do my apprenticeship in managing with only fps. I wouldn't choose to go back to that world. I also very regularly tested my hypo awareness! It seems that some people now do get CGM from a very early stage after their diagnosis. That is great, in principle, but it does leave some people far from well prepared to manage only with fps. No doubt they will survive. That is sort of akin to saying you have a car but the windscreen urgently needs cleaning - but it's OK to manage for a couple of days. If a patient needs a reserve sensor then it should be prescribed and the person authorising such a prescription should search their moral compass and apply medical judgement and write the script. Regardless of whether it is only 2 days or nearer 10. Nobody should be forced to unnecessarily go hypo (or hyper) just because an HCP won't exercise the judgement implicit in the training and authority they have spent years receiving.
It’s April 2024 so not sure of the relevance of this?
The relevance, @Lucyr, is that you commented that Abbott were relatively speedy and that was not my experience; ever. It was part of your wider comment that we should manage without having a reserve sensor. That is not a principle that I support.
I said at that time that I thought your response was a bit too rigid. You see many things as "black and white", "right or wrong". Alas in the real world so many things are not so clearcut, no matter how one might wish they were / are. In this example GPs could and in my opinion should exercise judgement and apply some common sense. If an individual is happy to muddle through without a reserve sensor that is their prerogative. I wasn't happy to regularly be returned to that position and when having over 50% failure rate I found that downright unacceptable. I appealed to my GP and that appeal was heard and resolved. With CGM I can generally achieve 70+% TIR; without CGM I rapidly could return to the "roller coaster" of serious lows, high rebounds then lows again. An unnecessary stressful situation. Just the constant finger prick checking and monitoring is a major intrusion on my daily living and my need to do that checking was inevitably intrusive on my wife's daily living.
You report the failures to abbot, using the online form or by phoning them. The delivery speed in 2021 is irrelevant as abbot have vastly ramped up their processes since 2021, only ever takes me a day or two now from filling in the online form to receiving the sensor.
