Responder 1-14 (R1-14) is a female aged 73 years with an HbA1c level of <7.5%. The patient had moved GP practices a few times since being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 13 years ago. This responder described regular telephone and in-person consultations related to diabetes at least every 6 months. This used to include a 30-minute consultation with the nurse for ‘getting ready’ to see the GP including ‘all the foot tests and checks’. This was followed immediately afterwards with a GP review ‘to make any changes and talk about my diabetes’. Soon after diagnosis, she attended a ‘diabetes class’ to support her with ‘eating the right things and shopping the right things’. There were also peer-support meetings that she described as ‘helpful to see what everyone else is doing’ and was given ‘some books with recipes’ that she still uses after more than a decade, though the responder acknowledged that ‘these might be out of date with the new stuff’. More recently, responder R1-14 described her experiences of diabetes services as ‘hit and miss’, as she had not seen a GP in 2 years. Most of R1-14’s care is now delivered by nurses but she would prefer to see the GP, though she feels that ‘he isn’t interested in me as I’m too old’. Responder 1–14 said; ‘I look after my own diabetes’. The responder explained that after the initial interest early during the disease, ‘they [GPs] just decided to leave me to it’. The responder would like more ‘of the things that we had at the start’ and feels ‘forgotten because I am getting on in age’. |