IT is encouraging that the chair of Healthwatch Dorset has taken up the struggle to get the new flash monitoring system that allows type 1 diabetics to dispense with the painful system of using needles to get blood from the fingers to test blood sugar levels.

This revolutionary system, as used by the Prime Minister, should have been available in Dorset for some years, but has been blocked by the Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group, who use cost as the factor for declining this new pain-free technology.

Has the commission taken into account the massive savings that would be made from type 1 patients no longer having to use products relating to the injection system, notably test strips? A box of 50 strips can last anything from two days to a week, with a cost of around £50 a box.

The Echo has played a significant role in alerting and informing the public of this decision by the commission, I expect that all type 1 diabetic patients in Dorset wish Joyce Guest of Healthwatch every success with her fight to change this cruel and painful practice.

Dorset are in a postcode struggle, with every other UK patient having availability for the new flash system. If it's good enough for Teresa May then it's good enough for Dorset !

TOM LANE, Quay Road, Christchurch