Following up on the type 2 diabetes scandal.

Overshadowed by Angela Rayner's resignation, but important nonetheless are reports that erroneous tests have been classing patients as diabetes type 2 sufferers.

Evidently, according to the BBC, Times and Telegraph patients have been put on high doses of Metformin which in some instances have had serious side effects.

In one BBC article written by Ben Wright and Judith Burns 55,000 patients will need to be re-tested. At least 16 hospital trusts supposedly used flawed machines which had been manufactured by Trinity Biotech. As long ago as last September the BBC had already reported that after machine malfunctions at Luton and Dunstable Hospitals an estimated 11,000 patients would need to be tested again.

Interesting too, that in 2024, NHS England reported, that cases of type 2 diabetes had increased unexpectedly by 4%.

Issues with the machines had actually been reported by MHRA (medicines and healthcare regulator) as early as April 2024.

Here at Wessex Times we have long feared that type 2 diabetes was not being correctly diagnosed or entered into the NHS reporting system. A case in hand.

A patient, somewhat overweight but not obese, was diagnosed as getting towards the values that could be classed as type 2 diabetic. The patient was immediately put on Metformin. His status was not only put into his NHS record but also passed on to other agencies. To name just one, TPP Leeds who operate SystmOnline [sic] and associated phone apps.

Thereafter the patient was constantly sent reminders to go to diabetic eye screening, diabetic foot checks etc.

The patient was determined not to become a diabetic and through fairly rigorous diet restrictions, thanks among others to Dr. Michael Mosley, lost over twenty pounds in weight and the next test showed that he was no longer anywhere near pre-diabetic values.

He requested that his GP takes him off the diabetes lists as he felt harassed by the flood of diabetes related emails.

No go! The answer is to quote: you are now a diabetic in remission.

Ever the sceptic, the patient was not satisfied with this statement and for a start wrote to the surgery forbidding them to pass his data on to external agencies. Yes, you guessed it. That had zero effect.

The invitations to various diabetes related tests and appointments never stopped. What worried the patient was something more sombre. Depending on the severity, people with a driving licence are required to report serious ailments to the DVLA. At present this does not include short-term diabetes type 2, but who knows?

Worse in the case of this patient is the fact that he regularly drives on the continent and also need health insurance when he is there. The standard EHIC cover is definitely good but covers only emergencies so in his case, sometimes spending up to almost three months on the continent meant it was wise to take out additional insurance.

The rest is obvious but let's complete the discussion.

The first thing, actually a whole list when one takes out overseas health insurance is: "Dear customer, do you suffer from any previous ailments?"

Now is type 2 diabetes in this case a previous ailment even when the latest measurements do not show this? If you don't put it down, you might well be invalidating your entire insurance. If you do put it down, you're "bu*****d".

So stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Patient is a cynical individual and believes that there are a lot of people earning a lot of money off people who are conveniently classed as diabetic.

What does the surgery earn, every time the patient goes for a foot test? Who makes what for an eye test? Who, we know, earns a fortune on thousands of patients who probably don't need to take Metformin?

Surgeries don't receive a specific payment for each foot check for example. But it goes into the earnings they attain from so-called QOF (Quality and Outcomes Framework) points According to ChatGPT a foot check is worth 4 points. A QOF point is worth approximately £220.62, increasing to £225.49 for 2025/26.

In fact there may be many getting shed loads of cash for treating Metformin side effects.

Just to make sure that he would receive no more harassing invitations, the patient wrote, multiple times to TPP Leeds telling them, this is not a request rather a legal demand, to delete his data and stop sending him messages.

They ignored him. Who do think you are little nuisance?

It is a law "the right to erasure", but for some reason if you break the law you can't be proecuted.. At least this is what Dorset constabulary told our little patient.

So patient writes to the ICO reminding them that there are laws that clearly state that one has the right to erasure.

After many emails etc. the ICO supposedly sent a warning to TPP. A complete waste of time it would appear. The ISO actually have no powers. In theory a non-compliant organisation could be fined but it never happens. At least not when it concerns the little guys.

So it seems that there are a host of organisations (surgeries) wasting tax-payers money following up on poltergeist diseases.