Half of British Diabetics Not Receiving Optimal Care

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Question:

I can’t say my care has been any better. I had to suggest to my doc that maybe I need a physical, and this was after demanding to actually see him in person in first place (after I was told the blood test results over the phone from a nurse). I say if the janitors in L.A. can strike for another $1 an hour, maybe we should strike too! Strike who, I don’t know, but still! :-)

You still have strikes over there? How about Tony Blair, for openers? I see him regularly on C-SPAN, and there are times I feel he should be struck. ;o)

There are many here who agree, at times he seems to act more right wing than the last lot. We elected him because we were sick to death of Thatcherism and wanted a change, not see it continued, but at least he is now putting money into the NHS, not cutting it like the last lot did. — Les Hellawell Yorkshire – White Rose County In the heart of Great Britain

Response:

Well today was CLINIC DAY, and time for my ANNUAL "complications check". This is to see if anything has developed during the past 12 months (fortunately nothing has) but I originally went to this clinic because I was assured of "Continuity of care". This means that who I see this week/month/year, all things being equal, I’ll see on my next visit. Twice. I’ve seen one doctor twice. Today I saw ANOTHER new one who couldn’t have been out of training (pants) for much more than a week or two. I had to explain EVERY bloody little detail AGAIN so he knew WHICH insulin I was using and WHY. He didn’t know the answer to one single question I asked (I won’t go into what I asked coz we’ve been there before, but no questions were what you’d call "hard") I told him I didn’t think it was brilliant idea that having "complication checks" every 12 months and I wanted a check at least each 6 months. He agreed that I could do that, but to be honest, I don’t think I’ll bother going back after today. At least if I got to my GP, he’s be the same today as he was last week Beav

Response:

How about Tony Blair, for openers? I see him regularly on C-SPAN, and there are times I feel he should be struck. ;o) Best Wishes, Charles Evans

Response:

As far as I gather from my own experiences with medicos ranging from GPs to diabetic specialists, I don’t think the situation here in Australia is much different. Eye examination – jerking back my head, looking into my eyes for one second, and saying, "yeah, it looks fine" (diabetic organisation) "No, yeast infections have nothing to do with diabetes" – a diabetic specialist. "HbA1c of 7.5 is ‘excellent’ control" – diabetic organisation "Blood pressure of 180/100 does not need medication" – a GP "No, I haven’t heard of the dawn syndrome, or early morning bg rises" – an older GP "There is no difference between Type I and Type II diabetes" – an experienced GP I could go on….. It seems that many medicos wrld wide are either ignorant of diebetes or will compare you to someone who’s diabetes is completely out of control and state that your management is good enough, and not want to look at you after that. Oddly, I have found that a few local GPs have had more knowledge that specialists. I have found that a local optician knew more about retinopathy and diabetic testing than an opthalmological clinic. Henry – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – from this week’s Medscape: http://diabetes.medscape.com/reuters/prof/2000/04/04.20/20000420prof0… Half of British Diabetics Not Receiving Optimal Care By Georgina Kenyon LONDON, Apr 20 (Reuters Health) – A 2-year UK study has found that half of the diabetic patients in England and Wales are not getting "the right treatment at the right time, causing significant complications."

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