Routine outpatient appointments to be by phone

[Thebearcametoo]

We just had notice that Oxford University Hospital Trust routine outpatients will not be in-person for the foreseeable future. Any diabetes clinic appointments will be at the same time but over the phone and sample kits sent out so we can do HBA1C testing by dropping the samples at the GP surgery a week in advance. All meter or pump data can be downloaded and sent to the team in advance of the appointment.
I presume this will be hospital wide for any outpatient appointments possible but out paediatric diabetes team are very on the ball at giving out info.

 

[Sally71]

That's interesting, we've just had an email from our paediatric diabetes team saying that there is no evidence at the moment that people with type 1 diabetes are at any greater risk from Coronavirus and that all clinics are going ahead as normal at the moment. Although they will let us know if this changes. We are due to go on Friday, and still will unless they tell us not to (or unless either of us develops any symptoms of course!)

 

[grovesy]

That's interesting, we've just had an email from our paediatric diabetes team saying that there is no evidence at the moment that people with type 1 diabetes are at any greater risk from Coronavirus and that all clinics are going ahead as normal at the moment. Although they will let us know if this changes. We are due to go on Friday, and still will unless they tell us not to (or unless either of us develops any symptoms of course!)

Not specifically Diabetes, but I have seen alot of Tweets from Medics and it seems to vary, it does not seem to universal approach.

 

[trophywench]

I for one am not prepared to let my husband try and get a venous blood sample for an HbA1c test, off me!

 

[Kaylz]

I for one am not prepared to let my husband try and get a venous blood sample for an HbA1c test, off me!

I guess they are expecting a finger prick sample for it as nobody would be getting near me either otherwise! xx

 

[Kaylz]

I don't know about hospital appointments here as I'm not due a diabetes one and my eye check up is next month although I have a feeling that will get cancelled but up here the local NHS has started shutting GP surgeries and triaging and prescriptions are to be popped through the letterbox etc, non emergency surgeries were being cancelled last week xx

 

[Thebearcametoo]

I for one am not prepared to let my husband try and get a venous blood sample for an HbA1c test, off me!

HBA1C here is done with finger prick and this is the sample collection kit they’ll send so no different to a usual glucose test.

 

[Thebearcametoo]

I don't know about hospital appointments here as I'm not due a diabetes one and my eye check up is next month although I have a feeling that will get cancelled but up here the local NHS has started shutting GP surgeries and triaging and prescriptions are to be popped through the letterbox etc, non emergency surgeries were being cancelled last week xx

All GP appointments here are by phone initially and then video is appropriate and only in person if absolutely necessary

 

[Ralph-YK]

I'd a normal (non diabetic) appointment at my GPs today. The other day I got a text saying it had been changed to a phone one, and that it could be any time during the day.
Been having a number of blood tests this year. The last one was exactly a week ago, at my GPs walk in blook clinik. (Got asked if I'd been abroad etc.) Of course, it might have changed since then.

 

[Ralph-YK]

I wondered how many GP practices have hands free/headsets for the phone. (Or even equipment that allows it!) All day holding a phone to your ear, and your arm is going to ache. It would allow them to make notes, check your records etc, while talking to you.
Having spent hours on the phone in different situations, hands free is a great thing. A couple of years ago I was doing customer serice for BHF. I was having to take customer deatails while on the phone. We had ordinary domestic cordless phones. I decided that I'd pay out for a phone that could do hands free to use there if they'd let me use it. I left before actually doing that!

 

[Sally71]

HBA1C here is done with finger prick and this is the sample collection kit they’ll send so no different to a usual glucose test.

I hate those kits! Our hospital tried to get everyone doing their hba1c sample a week or so before the clinic and sending it in to save time when we got there. But it isn't like a test strip, it's a little vial, and I could never get a large enough blood sample in the darn thing and they always had to repeat it when we got there anyway. And I don’t think I was the only one who had difficulty with it, because they eventually gave up on that idea and went back to just doing the test at the clinic. They have machines that give you the result within a few minutes anyway so it doesn’t make much difference!
When the nurses do it the blood whizzes straight up inside the thing so I’ve no idea why I found it so hard!

 

[Thebearcametoo]

Oh no I hate those kits. At clinic it’s the fast machines and like a glucose strip so I was hoping it would be that but it may dry too quickly. We’ll see. Our next clinic isn’t until a June.

 

[trophywench]

I rarely have trouble getting blood but the Donor service used to use them to do just a fingerprick BG when I was donating for a special diabetes project a while ago. The girls there always had terrible trouble getting enough to fill the vial.