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of costs being used for the device versus the current funding for glucose monitors and test strips are flawed, out of date and inaccurate.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.