"David Matthews Diabetes Centre"

I recently received my first communication (via letter) regarding my diabetic care following my last appointment/contact 2 years ago. For the past 2 years various appointments have been cancelled with no phone or near me appointment setup.

I feel totally abandoned.

I followed the advice on the letter which was to phone 01236 712436 if you would like any support, I would like to highlight that including " if you do not contact us within 4 weeks, we will assume that there are no current issues with your diabetes" is just not patient focused. The call was directed to an unknown member of the NHS team who then forwarded me on to the David Matthews Diabetes Centre. The call and general attitude of the staff I spoke to was utterly shocking stating that;

1. "You will not receive any appointment with the diabetic consultant as they are too busy."

2. "You probably wont be seen this year."

3. "If you have any issues go to your GP"

4. "You haven't had your HbA1c in 2 years, go get your phlebotomist to take a sample" - do patients need to take this upon themselves now?

5. "You missed a nurse appointment in 2019" - I explained that I had previously phoned 2 weeks prior to alert staff that I would be unable to attend.

6. "I dont know what you want me to do, I'll get a nurse to phone you back." - I have not received a call.

I understand that COVID has been a major influence in overall care but in terms of diabetic consultant and nursing staff vs. diabetic patient numbers I would struggle to believe if over 2 years that they cannot contact each patient.

I would also be interested in how many type 2 diabetics have been contacted during this time, as when I was "fighting" to be put onto the Libre system this was a question that members of the David Matthews Diabetes Centre were embarrassed to answer. I Would also like to highlight that I am still on Libre 1 a fact that my pharmacist keeps pointing out as I am one of the only patients still on this.

I also recently spoke to a friend that is a diabetic nurse in another board, she was appalled stating that fewer and fewer face to face appointments are happening (clinics still ongoing) however the utilization of letters, phone and near me appointments were scheduled by the team.

As a type 1 diabetic after leaving the care of my childhood diabetic doctor, my diabetic care has been dreadful and to be honest incredibly unhelpful with most consultants acting dismissive, seemingly caught up in the sense of "this way is the only way" and very opinion orientated before ever asking why.

I understand that reading this may come across as just another angry patient due to an event but this is just the final event in a long list that has made me realize that the care and standards just aren't good enough.