LIVINGLIVING
why it gives the reading it does. I know
the numbers belong to me, not an HCP.
The lack of access to enough diabetes
education really frustrates me. It needs
to be taken up nationally by all HCPs in
Primary and Secondary care and delivered
equally across all those living with prediabetes, Type
2 and Type 1 diabetes.
I feel that there are still so many people
being failed. People will feel like I did all
those years ago: disenchanted, frustrated,
unmotivated, removed, alone. It's such a
shame if change doesn't happen. Gone
must be prescriptive advice and medicine
in diabetes. Goals need to be achievable
and adaptable; life is adaptable. After all,
you would not give someone a car (the
car being diabetes) and told to drive it
24/7 without having lessons or been
given a map! There is a need for pharma
companies, suppliers and HCPs to work
with people with diabetes to developing
innovative solutions that work to both
simplify diabetes management and
improve quality of life.
I have had textbook HbA1c readings
but remember sometimes feeling burnt
out from working so hard on achieving
them! I think the emphasis should be to
relieve some of those feelings, freeing us
up a little from the never-ending burden
of living with diabetes. Things like bolus
calculators are ingenious, built-in gizmos
that record and store your results save
a heap of time, and there are apps
too. Diabetes tech today is so smart, it
really can help. Apps can prompt you to
understand patterns in your stored results
and share them with your diabetes team
for further insights.
IDEAL World
In my career, I have worked for Diabetes
UK and JDRF. I have also worked in sales
for Bayer diagnostics in diabetes care
and was happiest solving problems and
communicating with people with diabetes
and HCPs, running educational sessions
on glucose monitoring in a local mosque,
screening for diabetes at a corner shop,
sharing experiences at a diabetes support
group or leading an educational holiday for
young people with diabetes. I know firsthand the
value of coming together, how
creating ripples can make a difference.
Now I work for the Insights for Diabetes
Excellence, Access and Learning Group
or iDEAL Group). Our vision is to assist
the NHS to cut costs, reduce the
incidence or extent of complications, and
improve outcomes for the 10% of the UK
population diagnosed with diabetes. It
brings together like-minded people, some
of whom, like me, live with diabetes. They
are all experts in their field with significant
influence amongst their peers and
specialist interest groups.
We don't want to see my teenage
experiences still being lived by others
today. Blood glucose monitoring needs
to be provided for all who need it, not just
the few. We want access to education
in a format that suits the individual. By
engaging with leaders in the diabetes field
we are better able to start ripples, gather
scientific evidence, and present evidencebased information to tackle the issues of
access to education, variation in diabetes
outcomes, tackling strip rationing and the
growth in the unregulated low-cost, lowaccuracy meter market.
It is good for my soul to get things
done quicker, cut through the red tape
that holds many organisations back. At
iDEAL we are resourceful, quick thinking
and have the freedom to 'do.' We are
supported by an unrestricted educational
grant from Ascensia Diabetes Care.
When I started working with iDEAL,
I had only just returned from almost a
decade of living in the Middle East. I came
back with fresh eyes and the changes in
diabetes care ---were astonishing, but
scratching beneath the surface I saw
many issues were still deep-rooted. This
past year has seen significant strides
forward in things like acknowledging
the need for supporting mental wellness
and improved national access to flash
technology. But access to tech, choice,
education, and appropriate care is still
a postcode lottery. It isn't a 'national'
health service, and that really bothers me.
I hope that this year iDEAL will be given
more opportunities to push harder for
changes, offer solutions and work with
other passionate healthcare and policy
leaders to improve all diabetes care.
www.idealdiabetes.com
NEXT ISSUE, Part 3: More meter news, views and insights, indeed,
it will be finger-pricking good info. #fingerprickinggood
Blood glucose
monitoring needs to
be provided for all
who need it, not just
the few.
"