Postcode lottery means patients with type 1 diabetes ‘missing out on life-changing glucose monitors’

An investigation by the BMJ has found that tens of thousands of patients with type 1 diabetes are being denied access to a ‘life changing’ monitor because of a postcode lottery.

The Freestyle Libre has been available on the NHS for 12 months. However, whilst the investigation found that some clinical commissioning groups in England had already made the device available to hundreds of patients, a quarter of local NHS groups in were not recommending them for their patients.

The monitors work through a sensor attached to the skin, allowing patients to monitor their blood sugar levels through a portable reader or smartphone app. It is easier for patients to manage their condition and it also reduces the need for finger-prick tests.

There are currently estimated to be around 400,000 people in the UK with type 1 diabetes and around 29,000 of these are children.

Charity Diabetes UK’s Nikki Joule said patients were having to face an “unfair postcode lottery”.

Chief executive of NHS Clinical Commissioners, Julie Wood, said “Clinical commissioners have a responsibility to consider the needs of their whole populations, reduce inequalities, and improve quality of care while living within the funding they are given and it is right that they should follow a due process when considering new medicines and technology to ensure they are making the most effective use of the limited NHS pound.”

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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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