The NHS has lacked a clear position on how blood glucose monitoring should be used to support diabetes care, and local interpretation of national guidance on which devices patients can access varies widely. That inconsistency persists even as the benefits of newer monitoring technologies become better established, leaving commissioners and clinicians without a shared reference for choosing between them.
To build one, a steering group of clinicians and payers developed a 38-statement questionnaire across seven topics. The statements were tested through a modified Delphi consensus, circulated across the UK and completed by 222 healthcare professionals. Consensus was pre-specified at 66% agreement, with very high agreement set at 90%.
Thirty-five of the 38 statements passed the threshold, 26 of them at 90% or above. The recommendations reframe how monitoring technology should be judged: informed patient choice should be the prime factor in effective use, data integration is urgently needed, and new technology should be treated as an investment rather than a cost.
Triducive collated and analysed the responses in confidence for this Delphi panel, and provided medical writing and project coordination. The consensus makes the case for a value-based approach to blood glucose monitoring in the NHS.
Robertson DA, et al. Diabetes Therapy, 2019; 10(3): 901–916. DOI: 10.1007/s13300-019-0598-2
