I hope you are well

[Sprogladite]

Some seem to be saying the criteria is training, and to prevent people needing pumps.

One of the criteria for getting it in our area is, if it would prevent the need for a pump. The reasoning being that it is cheaper than a pump!

It's interesting though because for some the Libre has the opposite effect when it demonstrates clearly the need for some people to be on a pump - I was hypoing every night without fail and then waking up super high and wondering what was going on until I got the libre and then set alarms every night to test at 2am (that was a fun period lol). Now (mostly) sorted(ish) now I'm on a pump but would likely still be in the dark without the Libre.

 

[grovesy]

It's interesting though because for some the Libre has the opposite effect when it demonstrates clearly the need for some people to be on a pump - I was hypoing every night without fail and then waking up super high and wondering what was going on until I got the libre and then set alarms every night to test at 2am (that was a fun period lol). Now (mostly) sorted(ish) now I'm on a pump but would likely still be in the dark without the Libre.

I found it strange logic to use the Libre as justification to not need a pump. Pumps have been around a lot longer.

 

[mikeyB]

And wee testing was around a lot longer than BG testing.

As the great Pete Brown and Piblokto! declared with their album title “Things may come, and things may go, but the Art School Dance goes on forever”. Such is diabetes technology.

 

[Bronco Billy]

While the news is very welcome, I wouldn’t get too excited yet. It will still need to be prescribed and who knows what criteria will have to be met to be eligible. Some CCGs are imposing such strict criteria, one could be forgiven for thinking that they don’t want to issue any! I can see demand being high enough that CCGs will be nervous about going over the budget set aside for the Libre and retaining strict criteria as a result. Abbott will need to increase production as they are already struggling to meet demand.

 

[mikeyB]

Abbott could effectively increase production by making sensors that last three weeks instead of two. Wouldn’t need to expand production facilities, just a tweak of the hard- and software.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

Abbott could effectively increase production by making sensors that last three weeks instead of two. Wouldn’t need to expand production facilities, just a tweak of the hard- and software.

Do they reliably work for three weeks? I know the Reader stops them from working, but there are some apps that permit longer use. Are people finding they always (or often) continue to work OK for three weeks (and stay stuck, I guess, though I'd be inclined to believe mine would have all stayed stuck for an extra week without any problem)?

 

[khskel]

I suspect it's software limited

 

[mikeyB]

There must be a way to alter the life of a sensor. In the US it’s ten days. That surely must be a software decision rather than hardware.

 

[Matt Cycle]

I don't care what we get as long as it's fair and the same for everybody. If criteria are set then these should be the same everywhere and people should then have to meet the criteria to receive it. There should be none of this bending rules or maverick doctors/friendly DSN's issuing to whoever they want that appears to go on with pumps and tech at the moment.

 

[nonethewiser]

I don't care what we get as long as it's fair and the same for everybody. If criteria are set then these should be the same everywhere and people should then have to meet the criteria to receive it.

Couldn't agree more.

There should be none of this bending rules or maverick doctors/friendly DSN's issuing to whoever they want that appears to go on with pumps and tech at the moment.

Does that really happen?

One good thing about the libre is spotting trends and acting on them from the info gathered, for example the insulin timing at breakfast, gone from waiting 20 minutes to 30 minutes before eating which is giving me a much flatter line and keeping bloods in range right through the morning, a simple tweak but effective thanks to the libre device.

 

[Matt Cycle]

Couldn't agree more.



Does that really happen?

One good thing about the libre is spotting trends and acting on them from the info gathered, for example the insulin timing at breakfast, gone from waiting 20 minutes to 30 minutes before eating which is giving me a much flatter line and keeping bloods in range right through the morning, a simple tweak but effective thanks to the libre device.

I think so, however most of it's anecdotal. INPUT have a list of pump friendly clinics. The fact they have this suggests inequality in provision around the country. Perhaps not rule bending but some certainly more pro-active in getting tech for people. When I got my pump last year I had to have a C-peptide test as it was a CCG requirement. This was after having T1 for over 30 years. This delayed things by months as the results were lost. Someone I know in a different CCG area diagnosed within the last 3 years was applying around the same time. This person was on 2-3u basal so presumably still producing insulin. I can only surmise a C-peptide in their case would have been inconclusive.

When the Libres were first put on the NHS tariff last November someone wrote they went to their GP showed him what it was (he hadn't heard of it) he said fine and issued a scrip. I can't imagine this person carried on getting them but who knows?

Good luck to them but the rules should be the same for everyone and should be followed.

 

[Northerner]

The long and short of it is no libre prescriptions for Leeds. Medical assistance as required.

Benny, as I mentioned in my post about the JDRF Discovery Day, the Libre should (from next April) be available to any Type 1 testing 8+ times per day, as it is now accepted that fewer test strips will be used and this leads to 'cost neutrality' i.e. it's not going to cost the NHS more by providing it (probably the most obvious thing we have been saying all along! 🙄) So, worth asking again 🙂

 

[Robin]

Benny, as I mentioned in my post about the JDRF Discovery Day, the Libre should (from next April) be available to any Type 1 testing 8+ times per day, as it is now accepted that fewer test strips will be used and this leads to 'cost neutrality' i.e. it's not going to cost the NHS more by providing it (probably the most obvious thing we have been saying all along! 🙄) So, worth asking again 🙂

I’m wondering abut this 'testing 8 times a day' wording. My GP thinks that testing more than 4 times a day is bordering on the obsessive, and I can foresee a conversation in which I have to justify every extra test. ( I do test around 8 times, I use the Libre half the time, and save up most of my months supply of strips for the fortnight in between) That and the fact that she couldn’t prescribe it directly anyway, I’d have to have a referral back to hospital, as only consultant led clinics can decide if you get one. And why would she refer someone whose HbA1c already meets the NICE guidelines?