More than 490,000 patients missing out on life-saving diabetes monitor used by Theresa May as they’re ‘not a priority’
Just one in every 50 eligible people are currently receiving the monitor, and it's claimed a "postcode lottery" is denying the patch to hundreds of thousands of diabetics
MORE than 490,000 diabetes patients are missing out on a life-saving monitor used by Theresa May as they're "not a priority", it's claimed.
NHS data shows just 9,690 sufferers have been prescribed the blood sugar monitoring equipment since it was approved - but experts estimate 500,000 could benefit from the “flash glucose monitor”.
The revelation has reportedly "sparked anger", with some NHS commissioning groups refusing to fund the device, called FreeStyle Libre, because "it is not seen as a priority.";
The Prime Minister, who has Type 1 diabetes, was snapped wearing the device while greeting US President Donald Trump at Blenheim Palace during his trip to the UK earlier this month.
The flash monitor - available to the NHS for less than £1,000 a year each - is a small sensor providing continuous measurements of blood sugar levels in the body through a needle-like sensor in a patch worn on the back of the upper arm for 14 days, and can free patients of continuous painful finger-prick testing.
According to the Daily Express, approximately just one in every 50 eligible people are currently receiving it, and it's claimed a "postcode lottery" is denying the patch to hundreds of thousands of diabetics.
Chris Askew, chief executive of charity Diabetes UK, said: “The delay in some areas in providing access to a ground-breaking technology that can help people to better manage their diabetes is unacceptable.
“We are urgently calling on local health bosses to give access to the device to those who can benefit, no matter where they live."
He continued: “People with diabetes have already been waiting for too long. Every area should now have a policy providing access to flash for free on prescription.”
According to the Express, only half the 195 Clinical Commissioning Groups in England have prescribed it.
The device is available to diabetics in Westminster and Sonning, the Berkshire village that is home to Mrs May and her husband Philip, but not in her Maidenhead constituency, the paper reports.
Julie Wood, chief executive of NHS Clinical Commissioners, said: “The majority of CCGs have spent some money on the FreeStyle Libre devices and are taking on board NHS England guidance."
She added the device is "not appropriate" for all Type 1 diabetes patients, and the decision on its use "must be a clinical one... in the best interest of the patient".
She added: "Unfortunately, the NHS does not have unlimited resources and ensuring patients get the best possible care against a backdrop of spiralling demands is one of the biggest issues CCGs face.”
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