PLEASE SIGN MY PETITION!

[Caleb Bezzant]

https://www.thepetitionsite.com/en-gb/506/308/883/get-the-freestyle-libre-on-the-nhs/

Please copy and paste the link above into your search bar and Support my petition to get The 'Abbott Freestyle Libre' Sensors to be available on the NHS and to be prescribed by GP's all over the country. Currently you can buy this product directly from Abbott, The sensors alone cost £52 each which only last a maximum of two weeks, This is quite expensive considering once you use this product you will want to keep using it for ever!

If this is your first time hearing about Abbotts Freestyle Libre i would definitely reccomend visiting their site or even buying a reader and sensor as its a much less painful and more practical way to measure your blood glucose levels.

This is a truly a life changing piece of equipment for diabetics now and of the future so please don't hesitate to put your signature down and to spread the word! Thank you.

 

[novorapidboi26]

you realise the Libre is not far away from being available on prescription.....all be it not to everyone likely...

 

[Robin]

https://www.thepetitionsite.com/en-gb/506/308/883/get-the-freestyle-libre-on-the-nhs/

Please copy and paste the link above into your search bar and Support my petition to get The 'Abbott Freestyle Libre' Sensors to be available on the NHS and to be prescribed by GP's all over the country. Currently you can buy this product directly from Abbott, The sensors alone cost £52 each which only last a maximum of two weeks, This is quite expensive considering once you use this product you will want to keep using it for ever!

If this is your first time hearing about Abbotts Freestyle Libre i would definitely reccomend visiting their site or even buying a reader and sensor as its a much less painful and more practical way to measure your blood glucose levels.

This is a truly a life changing piece of equipment for diabetics now and of the future so please don't hesitate to put your signature down and to spread the word! Thank you.

Officially available on the NHS since the start of this month, members of this forum in some areas have managed to get it prescribed. But other areas' local formulary ( like where I live) have it on the Black 'Do not prescribe' list. So it may be a case of petitioning your local CCG now.

 

[Caleb Bezzant]

novorapidboi26 Ive read about the progress being made and as you say they plan to make it available in certain places across the country, I hope to make this tool accessible to everyone, what good is it knowing this gem is on the NHS but only if you buy a house in another borough, to me its ludicrous!
Also Thanks for your Response.

 

[Caleb Bezzant]

Officially available on the NHS since the start of this month, members of this forum in some areas have managed to get it prescribed. But other areas' local formulary ( like where I live) have it on the Black 'Do not prescribe' list. So it may be a case of petitioning your local CCG now.

Thanks for your response Robin. I have heard that it is available in some areas, there are diabetics everywhere so I believe the products created to aid the condition should be available nation wide, that's what I hope to make a reality.

 

[novorapidboi26]

Best of luck....I've seen a few of these petitions though.....

I believe eventually it will be on the prescription list everywhere, but its who gets the thing that will be a bigger hurdle...

For example, someone on a mixed, twice a day insulin wont have any use for it.....

And a personal opinion of mine, anyone who hasn't had dose adjustment training/experience, probably wont have any use for it, as seen from a cost effectiveness point of view anyway.....

the Libre seems to have brought forward this new approach to BG management, sugar surfing, where you have data all the time and can make adjustment with insulin or glucose when required....I am still to be convinced this is the way forward.....in comparison to the conventional methods if working out a dose, timing it correctly....etc....

 

[Robin]

approach to BG management, sugar surfing, where you have data all the time and can make adjustment with insulin or glucose when required....I am still to be convinced this is the way forward.....in comparison to the conventional methods if working out a dose, timing it correctly....etc....

Call me a control freak, but I've been a lot happier since I started using the Libre and can see what's going on. Peace of mind doesn't seem to feature in the criteria for having it prescribed, though.
But I can also collect data to make adjustments to basal, ratio, etc, much more quickly than with finger prick tests, it gave me the information I needed to realise my basal wasn't working for me, and never would work properly, and I asked to swap it on the basis of what the Libre had told me. I don't think even the most accurate calculation of dose amount and timing would have sorted that out for me.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

Even for people who are fairly stable, it feels like it would be of enormous value for them to wear a sensor for a couple of weeks before meeting their healthcare team. (For people who it works for (so aren't allergic to the adhesive, can remember to scan it at least every 8 hours or so, etc.).)
As you say, for those who take insulin it gives actual data about what's happening which seems tricky to determine otherwise (except from a CGM, obviously).
A while ago I was offered a night in a local hospital where they could monitor my glucose overnight, but (while probably useful) it's not nearly as useful as getting readings every night while I'm living my normal life (rather than being kept awake by hospital noise).
Cost doesn't seem impossible. According to the first link on google there's about 3.5 million people with diabetes, 10% with type 1. So presuming 1K a year (which is about what the discounted price is, I think) that's 350 million quid a year to cover all people with type 1. Presumably less because not everyone will want it (and some will already have a CGM).
Still doesn't seem very likely, but it doesn't feel impossible to fund.

 

[novorapidboi26]

Call me a control freak, but I've been a lot happier since I started using the Libre and can see what's going on. Peace of mind doesn't seem to feature in the criteria for having it prescribed, though.
But I can also collect data to make adjustments to basal, ratio, etc, much more quickly than with finger prick tests, it gave me the information I needed to realise my basal wasn't working for me, and never would work properly, and I asked to swap it on the basis of what the Libre had told me. I don't think even the most accurate calculation of dose amount and timing would have sorted that out for me.

This is what I will be using the Libre for if/when I get it, basal tests, but its purely a convenience for me at this point, because I learned to basal test the old fashioned way......

the dose timing I was talking about was the bolus doses...

but yeah, the petition is one of many I have seen....but the process is already underway and its early days for everyone......with the exception of a few....😉

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I understand your frustration @Caleb Bezzant - but it’s good to know that the wheels are in motion and that it is now down to individual CCGs and local health economies to make the technology available.

It is interesting that INPUT, a small but powerful technology advocacy voice specifically advise against petitions of this sort. I wonder if your enthusiasm would be better directed to convincing the CCG in your own area, since the national decision has already been taken?

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

It’s good to know too that DUK and JDRF are along with HCP advocacy groups like ABCD are working hard to put guidelines together that might help convince the bean counters.