After dx 16 yrs ago have never seen anyone outside of gp practice. A few of you have been supporting me through start of insulin treatment and with the advice and support on here was brave enough to ask for bolus to add to basal and not have mixed insulin,nurse said "but you will have to be referred " so be it I said and its going to happen YAY .I know that dietitian needs to go through cho/units etc but do you think anything else will be happening at hospital?or is that it

Really depends on the person you're dealing with Victoria.

You might get booked for a course. You might get the nurse/deititian's short guide to carb matching to doses. You may be simply put on a fixed dose for each meal (not a good option - it would be quite good to point out that you are familiar with the principles of carb counting and express surprise that they're not starting you on 1u/10g of carb and see if that opens up some doors).

Having been referred they may also check all your previous test results and that you're getting all the other tests and services (podiatry etc) that you ought to. But most of all it will be a good opportunity to meet the full-time DSNs and maybe then have a source of support for the future, which can be very useful if things aren't going so well with the GP/practice nurse.

Well done for sticking out for the basal Bolus Victoria!   Good for you!!!

When I switched from mixed insulin to Basal Bolus I got referred to the DSN at the hospital.  Regretfully I only saw her the once on that occasion and was told nothing much except to take fixed doses and "if you are T2 they'll go up and if you're T1 they probably won't".  A pitiful amount of information.  I asked about carb counting and she said "We don't offer that service".  I was a touch bewildered.... but in retrospect it's pretty typical of what happens in this neck of the woods.  I hope you fare better.  In the end I worked it out for myself with the aid of the likes of Terry and Kate.

At least there is now an on-line carb counting course you can do.

Thats great news Victoria we all need to remember that if we dont push we will just be ignored by the NHS unless we are close to passing out

Excellent news Victoria!  Which hosp will you be referred to? (just wondering whether anyone on the forum knows the staff!!)

Quoted from Victoria

After dx 16 yrs ago have never seen anyone outside of gp practice. A few of you have been supporting me through start of insulin treatment and with the advice and support on here was brave enough to ask for bolus to add to basal and not have mixed insulin,nurse said "but you will have to be referred " so be it I said and its going to happen YAY .I know that dietitian needs to go through cho/units etc but do you think anything else will be happening at hospital?or is that it

Congratulations on having the guts to speak up.

Keep doing that

Sedge its the Gloucester Royal ,does anyone have any experience of the care there

Excellent Victoria

Had my fer appt today and its 4.5 weeks away ,not too bad but my bgs are spiraling upwards still. Last nights was 16.1 and early morning today 7.1 so am looking hourly online to see if any cancellations come up

Quoted from Victoria

Sedge its the Gloucester Royal, does anyone have any experience of the care there

Yes - the DSN I 'was under', Wilma, was excellent - but she was going part-time and may have retired by now...  I was their first Levemir patient, having pushed for it; previously they were all Lantus.  Hope it goeth well!