Warfarin monitoring

littlewren

broasis wrote: »

Could he just buy his own monitor and do it at home? Or could he maybe have to go private in one of the areas? Would the NHS not be able to sort something out for him if he explained the situation to his GP?

Thank you for your post broasis. I don't know if the monitors would be accurate enough, I wouldn't fancy him relying on one and unfortunately he can't afford to go private. Yes, I'm hoping that the NHS will be able to help in this situation. When I phoned the anticoagulant clinic I was told that they have dealt with people travelling all over the place while being monitored on Warfarin so fingers crossed my Dad can sort something out.

[Deleted User]

This is the monitor that my surgery use, but you still need the computer software that they use to calculate the dose from the INR test, and some patients find that the NHS aren't willing to cooperate with home testing. You also still need all your records in the same place on one computer too (or for them to be willing to keep and maintain two copies of the same records without error). There has been some talk of making the software available for people to use at home, but I'm not sure whether that's ever been done.

littlewren

Thanks for the info and link jack_pott :-)

[Deleted User]

If you have a look here you will find lots of debates about INR testing, I don't bother much about the hassle because I'm only on Warfarin temporarily pending an ablation. (Some posts are private, so you will need to register an account to see everything.)

littlewren

Thank you jack_pott

FBaby

but my Dad says he is

He is because I assume neither GP knows and it hasn't been picked up by NHS England. He might think that it is to his benefit, but it wouldn't be if he was prescribed two different drugs by each GP that are dangerous taken together.

He would be better off staying with the one he sees more often and than attend the closest walk-in centre at the other place.

littlewren

FBaby wrote: »

He is because I assume neither GP knows and it hasn't been picked up by NHS England. He might think that it is to his benefit, but it wouldn't be if he was prescribed two different drugs by each GP that are dangerous taken together.

He would be better off staying with the one he sees more often and than attend the closest walk-in centre at the other place.

You have a very good point there and one that I will mention to him.

misty6

Sorry I know this thread is a few weeks old and you've probably got something sorted by now.

I've been on warfarin for 9 years now and will be on it for life. I have multiple heart issues (I won't bore you with all the details!)including AF.

I've only just got a home testing kit recently and can't recommend it highly enough. I take my reading and then phone it through to the anticoagulant clinic at my local hospital - then they tell me what dose to take and the date my next test is due. I could even take it abroad to use if I needed to.

I had to take my machine into the clinic for them to calibrate it against their machine to ensure it gives accurate results. I will have to do this about once a year.

The only downside is that it's not very mse as the machine cost me £300 and the testing strips cost about £60 for 24. The lancets are very cheap. The cheapest place to buy all this on the internet is from roche (google roche and coaguchek). If you are on long term warfarin therapy you are exempt from having to pay the vat.

Some people can get the testing strips on prescription - unfortunately I can't For me it's still worth it though as I had stroke in 2013, caused by my AF, and this ensures I can monitor my INR more closely and conveniently and gives me peace of mind.

I hope this information is useful to you or anyone else that might read it. And I hope your Dad is doing OK

flora48

Just to add to the above post, I bought my own machine a couple of years ago, the Roche Coaguchek one and my GP prescribes the test strips and the lancets. I had an INR test at the docs yesterday and tested on my machine immediately I got home and had identical results. I just phone my GP with the reading and they phone back with the dosage wherever in the world I may be. It is great to be free of all those appointments.

Flugelhorn

FBaby wrote: »

He is because I assume neither GP knows and it hasn't been picked up by NHS England. He might think that it is to his benefit, but it wouldn't be if he was prescribed two different drugs by each GP that are dangerous taken together.

He would be better off staying with the one he sees more often and than attend the closest walk-in centre at the other place.

when a patient goes to register at a new practice the NHS number is found from the NHS database and as the registration goes through it deducts the patient from the old surgery's list. Some people are treated as temporary residents and can be like that for up to 3 months at a practice - maybe the practice is treating him like that.

Our surgery uses a finger !!!!! near patient testing kit and it is pretty accurate (we do a formal test on one of the patients every week) - we don't use the software, dosing according to previous results.

Really tricky to coordinate warfarin monitoring across 2 areas