Insulin pump ‘showcases’ are fairly common practice among diabetes teams across the country, where patients are invited to come along to an afternoon or evening meeting to find out more about starting on an insulin pump and/or choosing which insulin pump they would like to go on to. A variety of insulin pump manufacturers are usually invited to come along and the patients spend the meeting working their way round each to ask questions and work out which would be best for them to use.
Medtronic’s My Pump Choice programme was born out of our experiences at these insulin pump showcases and the feedback that the company had from some people who attended them who sometimes left an event feeling more confused than when they started. The website, while presented by Medtronic, is designed not to ‘sell’ their pump system but to encourage people to ask the right questions about which pump to go on, thereby supporting their decision making process to give them the confidence that their decision is the right one for them, no matter which system they choose.
The website holds information, downloads and worksheets to help people think about their own lifestyle and which
pump might suit them best. There are also comparison charts and guides to help them when they come along on the day and look at all of the different insulin pumps and pump companies.
There is also a simple but useful guide to continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and how the NHS funds it. Medtronic is supporting this Hub because they know how daunting it can be for people to choose which Insulin Pump they should have. They also understand that one size does not fit all and that different people have different needs and wants. They say they have tried hard to be as impartial as they can to help narrow down all of the information that is out there.
News items and features like this appear in the Desang Diabetes Magazine, our free-to-receive digital journal. We cover diabetes news, diabetes management equipment (diabetes ‘kit’ such as insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitoring equipment) and news about food suitable for a diabetic diet including a regular Making Carbs Count column. Go to the top of this page to sign up – we just need your email address.
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