From: Edinburgh
HEALTH chiefs are hoping to save £2.5 million by changing the way thousands of diabetes patients monitor their own condition. They want to stop the use of expensive glucose strips for people who can manage their condition through diet and exercise. […]
Alastair Paisley, Pentlands Conservative councillor who was diagnosed with the condition in 2001, said: “When I first received the kit I used it about twice a week to make sure everything was okay. But as time went on I used it less, to the point where months go by without it. So when I got the letter saying the NHS hoped to save money by taking people off these I wholly agreed.
This dog thinks Alastair Paisley is an idiot. Woof!
Full article: http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/edinburgh/39Needless39-diabetes-tests-may-be.6453398.jp
So how does this idiot expect people to take the ‘responsibility for managing their own care’ without the tools to do so?
Putting people’s lives at risk to save money? Disgusting. And just how much do they expect to have to pay for treating complications if they go through with this idiotic idea? This would not save them money, and could cause serious problems for many.
Something similar is going on in my area – I don’t know how widespread it is, but my Type 2 grandfather is no longer allowed free strips. He isn’t seeing much difference, as he doesn’t look after his diabetes at all, but it’s obvious that now he’ll never have good control. Great.
As most T2s treat their diabetes in the same way as @Jodie’s granddad, any savings will be minimal. It’s only when the secondary effects start to be felt that they start to take the complaint seriously, and that’s when they need the kit to allow them to regain control.