Insulin pen needles prescription rejected

Haemogoblin
Haemogoblin Online Community Member Posts: 7 Listener
in Rare, invisible, and undiagnosed conditions
Hello everyone,


Yes, its true a GP rejected my script for pen needles, then a receptionist refused to help me get another prescription.

I produce no insulin of my own and without pen needles I can't inject insulin which keeps me alive. This can lead to a chronic life threatening condition DKA ( diabetic ketoacidosis) followed by coma and death.

This issue has now been sorted out and the reason I am posting is I don't want any other person who relies on their meds to stay alive to go through the stress and pure, undiluted fear I did.

* I immediatly left an urgent message for a diabetes specialist nurse to call me back urgently 

* DSN then rang the surgery who told her they were cutting costs, DSN told explained " not with type 1 diabetics"

* I emailed a complaint to them and changed my GP practice.

* I was able to get the pen needles I needed

The cheaper brand of pen needle were  causing some issues so DSNs had previously intervened to get the right needles for me but when I needed more they rejected the script.

Hospitals usually have a SOS system in place for diabetics so if people are desperate, contact them.

Once again, this issue is now resolved.



Comments

  • Alex_Alumni
    Alex_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,538 Championing
    Hi @Haemogoblin thank you for sharing your experience, that must have been pretty harrowing, but I'm so glad it's been resolved now. It's great that the specialist nurse was able to step in and support you as well.

    I'm sure this post will be really helpful for our members :) How are you finding your new GP practice?
  • MarkM88
    MarkM88 Online Community Member Posts: 3,119 Connected
    One of my old GP’s used to try this with test strips years ago. I involved Diabetes UK, put an official complaint in to the practice and pointed them to the NICE guidelines. 

    A DSN can be the best friend a diabetic can have as they can help sort 99% of things out. 
  • Haemogoblin
    Haemogoblin Online Community Member Posts: 7 Listener
    Alex_Scope said: 

    I'm sure this post will be really helpful for our members :) How are you finding your new GP practice?
    Hi Alex, 

    Its early days but so far I have recieved my full prescription from them apart from the statin but this was only because it has been less than 28 days since I changed to a new practice and not all my details have come through yet!

    They did give me x2 boxes of 100 pen needles which I requested so every is good so far, thank you ?
  • Alex_Alumni
    Alex_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,538 Championing
    I'm glad to hear it, it must be a relief for you :) I hope that standard continues.
  • Haemogoblin
    Haemogoblin Online Community Member Posts: 7 Listener
    Hi Mark,

    I have heard of this happening quite a lot on diabetes forums. Again, I am sure GPs and thier colleagues were cost cutting and will be due to cost of test strips being sky high.

    Cost cutting needs to be done without causing harm versus drug companies being stopped from over charging the NHS.

    Test strips are a lifeline for folks with diabetes, I can appreciate the frustration that this incident could have caused.

    Its good to know Diabetes UK can intervene as not every person with diabetes is registered with a consultant/DSN.




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