Hi everyone! I have been diabetic for 25 years and been using an Omnipod pump for the last 8 years. I currently live in Birmingham but may have to relocate to the Inverness area in the next year. So far, everything I have found about pump usage in Scotland suggests that it’s not as widely in use as here. I would hate having to go back to MDI after all this time. Does anyone with knowledge of the Scottish system know if I would be likely to be allowed to keep on pumping? Thanks in advance.
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Pumps in Scotland?
- Thread starter Debc
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mikeyB
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hi @Debc, welcome to the forum.
I've done the reverse trip. I was offered a pump, but the practicalities of getting from the Isle of Mull to Paisley for routine appointments would mean two days away from home, possibly three with winter ferry schedules. You won't have any problem at all. Raigmore Hospital in Inverness is a regional centre for the Highland area.
NHS Scotland is very different, and is completely integrated, so if your hospital records are in Inverness, if you end up in Glasgow in a tizz, your medical records will be visible to them using your CHI number. Hospital referrals from the GP go direct to the consultant with no layers of bureaucracy intervening. Your GP will be able to view any x-rays you have in hospital. None of NHS Scotland services are privatised, apart from incinerating medical waste, and hospital food is better.
It's a very different country, too. Less frenetic, more easy going and very friendly. Inverness is lovely town. There's a great beach just along the coast at Nairn, and of course you are at the top of Loch Ness, which contains more fresh water than the whole of the lakes in England put together. Plus a monster to spot.
I do envy you. The first of many migrants to Scotland when independence comes, I suspect.
PS Amazon and Lakeland don't add additional delivery charges, but some companies add sometimes ludicrous amounts extra for highland deliveries.
I've done the reverse trip. I was offered a pump, but the practicalities of getting from the Isle of Mull to Paisley for routine appointments would mean two days away from home, possibly three with winter ferry schedules. You won't have any problem at all. Raigmore Hospital in Inverness is a regional centre for the Highland area.
NHS Scotland is very different, and is completely integrated, so if your hospital records are in Inverness, if you end up in Glasgow in a tizz, your medical records will be visible to them using your CHI number. Hospital referrals from the GP go direct to the consultant with no layers of bureaucracy intervening. Your GP will be able to view any x-rays you have in hospital. None of NHS Scotland services are privatised, apart from incinerating medical waste, and hospital food is better.
It's a very different country, too. Less frenetic, more easy going and very friendly. Inverness is lovely town. There's a great beach just along the coast at Nairn, and of course you are at the top of Loch Ness, which contains more fresh water than the whole of the lakes in England put together. Plus a monster to spot.
I do envy you. The first of many migrants to Scotland when independence comes, I suspect.
PS Amazon and Lakeland don't add additional delivery charges, but some companies add sometimes ludicrous amounts extra for highland deliveries.
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