'Needless' diabetes tests may be cut to save £2.5m

Published on Monday 2 August 2010 15:09

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.

By cutting down on the prescriptions it is understood a huge saving could be made without risking patient care for sufferers of Type 2 diabetes.

The move has been praised, with politicians saying this is exactly the kind of efficiency saving needed to cope with demanding budget cuts that will be faced by NHS Lothian.

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.

"When you are like me and can manage your diabetes through diet and exercise there's really no need for it.

"I think people should probably be taking more responsibility for managing their own condition anyway."

Although patients will be written to and asked to give up the prescription, those who require insulin or tablets for their diabetes will be able to continue using it.

The machine itself, which resembles a mobile phone, is supplied by the manufacturers for free, but the expense lies in the strips which are on repeat prescriptions for patients.

The machine pricks the finger to allow a small amount of blood to emerge, at which point it is transferred onto the strip and read by the machine.

And even if the reading is particularly high or low, advice tends to be to rest, live healthily for the next 12 hours, and take another reading to make sure.

One senior NHS Lothian source said it was schemes like this which could improve the organisation's delicate finances.

They said: "It sounds exactly the kind of smart working that every department should be looking to."

The move comes after it emerged around four people a day are diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in the Lothians. Latest figures show the total number of patients has reached 31,500 in the area, prompting concerns about obesity.

Lothians MSP Gavin Brown, whose parliamentary question prompted the release of the statistics, said: "As the best way to prevent diabetes is a healthy lifestyle then we need to make sure that this message hits home and people start a healthy lifestyle at an early age.

"Given that (being] overweight and obesity in childhood can lead to Type 2 diabetes it is vitally important that we promote healthy messages for children at school and at home."

Dr James Cowan, clinical lead with Edinburgh Community Health Partnership for NHS Lothian, said: "Evidence tells us that patients with Type 2 diabetes who do not take medication likely to result in abnormally low blood sugar levels or who are treated with 'diet alone' are unlikely to benefit from routine monitoring.

"The Lothian Prescribing Forum is asking GPs to look at whether some patients are testing inappropriately. This will allow us to continue to develop best practice and minimise wastage.

"This is best for patients and the NHS as a whole and will allow savings to be reinvested in patient care."