It may not seem like the biggest wellness aspect of your type 1 diabetes management, but due to concerns about lacking patient test strip prescriptions, the Department of Health has issued a warning to healthcare professionals in England and Wales. Its message: not to neglect the importance of prescribing blood glucose test strips to patients with type 1 diabetes.
The letter told GPs, hospital doctors, community pharmacists and Primary Care Trusts that 250,000 people in England living with type 1 diabetes depend on finger prick glucose testing for their wellbeing. Test strips help type 1 diabetics to monitor their blood sugar wellness, and to adjust their insulin dosage if need be. According to the letter, it is ‘essential’ that diabetes patients are prescribed enough of the self-blood glucose measurement test strips that they need, especially particularly because diabetes ketoacidosis (DKA) cases are on the rise.
When your body runs out of insulin, this is known as DKA and threatens your life. You can prevent it with tight blood glucose control, but this requires the use of diabetes test strips. According to the advice of the Department of Health’s letter, ‘while testing strips dispensed in primary care may appear to have a premium cost, the wider costs to the patient’s quality of life, their safety and ability to work and to the NHS of complications of uncontrolled diabetes far outweigh these costs.’
But why have the Department of Health suddenly produced this letter? Charity group Diabetes UK has recently reported concerns that there are more and more patients with type 1 diabetes who are not being prescribed the right amounts of blood glucose test strips and so are struggling to manage their condition by themselves. The Department of Health therefore released the letter in response to these concerns.
Therefore, the Department of Health concluded their advisory letter by saying, ‘GPs and pharmacists should work collaboratively with patients to ensure the optimal amount of testing strips are prescribed and supplied to type 1 diabetics. Too few can lead to serious clinical consequences. Too many can lead to wastage.’ Officials such as Dr Rowan Hillson, national clinical director for diabetes, signed the letter.
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