I’ve only been admitted to hospital once while living in England. And that was for DKA, so maybe that doesn’t count. I was soon back on my regime while in hospital, and had no complaints. Living in Scotland I was only admitted once for multiple investigations into my neurological problem ( to save me 8 ferry trips). Nobody took over my diabetes therapy, and let me sort it out for myself. Apart from one male nurse who spotted me munching wine gums. When I said I was a tad hypo, he gave me a lecture on empty calories (they weren’t empty to me) and promptly gave me a butty and a glass of milk, which are full calories, so I had to take a sneaky correction in the night.
I slept through next day’s lumbar puncture, never been seen before apparently.
The different experiences in Scotland, inluding cataract surgery x2 and a couple of colonoscopies, are probably due to every single ward in every Scottish hospital has a checklist on how to treat T1 patients, at least those who are compos mentis, and situations where referral rather than self management might be necessary. This was trialled some years back in a couple of hospitals in the North East of Scotland, and was such a success it went nationwide.
It’s such a good and effective idea that NHS England has ignored it, kicked the ball into the long grass and decided to have a good look at what goes wrong. Nothing, of course, will improve.
