A BRIDPORT teenager has successfully won her case to receive a blood glucose monitoring device on the NHS.

Thirteen-year-old Rosey Edwardes was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was 17 months old and has to check her blood glucose levels at least 10 times a day.

Last week, the Bridport News reported that Rosey and her mum Kirsty had been lobbying to Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to make the device available on the NHS and to meet their criteria to be able to have it prescribed, which can be read here.

The device, which is the size of a £2 coin and sits on the arm, will be available on prescription for all patients who meet the guidelines from April 2019.

Kirsty said: “Rosey now meets the criteria and is receiving them.

“I am really relieved for her and she is really pleased. Rather than nagging her to do it, she just does it.

“We started buying the device in November last year and it has taken this long to get it prescribed.

“It is a good use of technology and it is much easier to control. Hopefully it will continue into the future and become easier.”

The monitor significantly reduces the need for painful finger prick blood tests by relaying glucose levels to a smart phone or e-reader.

Under the current system, Dorset CCG decides whether flash glucose monitoring is available to patients in the area, which means the CCG can dictate the criteria and if they offer it to all.

In Dorset, the CCG has approved the device for children, as well as a handful of adults under very strict criteria.

However, Healthwatch Dorset, argue that those with type 1 diabetes should have equal access to the technology.

Joyce Guest, chair of Healthwatch Dorset, said: “We welcome the recent NHS England pledge to make Freestyle Libre monitors available to tens of thousands of people with Type 1 diabetes across the country from next April.

“These monitors reduce the need for painful finger prick blood tests and empower people to better manage their diabetes.

“Local people have been campaigning for better access to these monitors in Dorset now, while we understand that in our neighbouring counties of Somerset and Hampshire, they are more widely available.

“The current postcode lottery is clearly not fair. People deserve equal access to this technology.”

Responding to Healthwatch Dorset’s statement, a spokesperson for Dorset CCG, said: “The guidance from NHS England states that from April 2019, patients will be able to receive it on prescription from their local GP or diabetes team, helping them to better manage their blood sugar levels.

“We also made this position clear at the public session of the CCG governing body meeting on November 20.

“We have expressed our concern to Healthwatch Dorset that they are seeming to suggest something is not available in Dorset that is widely available across the country as this is not the case.”