Gary Fagg, Chairman of the Paula Carr Diabetes Trust, and Trustee Ros Debling attended a Diabetes UK meeting of the Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks Branch last Tuesday.

The purpose of the meeting was to provide the group with information on The Paula Carr Diabetes Trust but the main aim was to give information on funding opportunities for alternative therapies available to people in Kent living with diabetes.

Pain Pod

Pictured is Gary Fagg talking about the Pain Pod, a device which provides physical therapy for pain relief. The Trustees have been made aware of the benefits to users of this device and decided to purchase a supply. Attendees were given the opportunity to try the device and then make their own decision on whether they wanted to have a device loaned to them.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Also present was Karen Middlemiss, Member Support Manager at the MS Therapy Centre in Canterbury. Karen spoke about Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and how 100% pure oxygen can aid recovery in many conditions. HBOT has been promoted as an effective treatment for diabetic foot wounds. Indeed, Karen showed photographs of a diabetic patient’s open wounds before treatment and the progress made which saved the toes from amputation.

As Kent has one of the highest amputation rates for diabetic patients in the country, The Paula Carr Trustees are offering to fund treatment for people living in the county. The Trust will pay the first membership fee for joining the MS Therapy Centre, a course of 20 sessions and will also provide a voucher to be used against one of the alternative therapies available at the Canterbury Centre.

The next talk and demonstration will be held at Crooksfoot Tesco, Junction 10, Ashford on October 9th starting at 7.45pm. Thanet Diabetes UK Group follows on October 25th at 7.30 pm.

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Gary Fagg, Chairman of the Paula Carr Trust, was interviewed for an item on BBC 1 South East News on Friday 31st August. The Trustees are concerned that agreement to prescribe the FreeStyle Libre Glucose Monitoring device has become a post code lottery, with Kent missing out.

The piece included interviews with two families, one who was self-funding the device and one who couldn’t but who explained she finger pricked at least 16 times a day to keep her blood sugars level.

Gary Fagg explained that if the device was not being prescribed anywhere else in the UK, the Trust would accept that decision. What wasn’t broadcast was the reality that Kent is one of only three counties in the United Kingdom where the CCGs have refused to accept that it can benefit all Type1 Diabetics.

Discussions are taking place with the Commissioners where Gary Fagg has explained that the calculations of costs being used for the device versus the current funding for glucose monitors and test strips are flawed, out of date and inaccurate. The Trust has been advised that urgent meetings are now taking place to discuss the situation.

The Paula Carr Trustees would like assure Kent Diabetics that we are working on their behalf to try to get the Kent Clinical Commissioning Groups to accept that their intransigence on this matter is unacceptable. You can help by writing to your Member of Parliament but also visit the Kent CCG website to lodge a complaint.