Annual check-up

Get Checked Programme

All people in New Zealand with diabetes are entitled to a free diabetes check-up with their GP or GP practice nurse once a year. Your GP may put you on a recall system to remind you when your check-up is due. You may also decide to have your check-up in the month of your birthday each year. This is often a good way of remembering to have your check-up.

What’s the purpose of the yearly check-up?

The free check-up serves several purposes. Firstly it acts as a reminder to both yourself and your GP that nothing important has been missed out of your diabetes care for the year.

Details of the check-up

As part of your check-up, you and your GP or practice nurse need to completely fill out a special form. To complete the form you need to have had all the following checks or tests either done or booked to be done:

  • A diabetes eye check (check of your retinas) within the last two years
  • The sensation and circulation of your feet checked
  • Your blood pressure checked
  • An HBA1c level done (this checks your average blood glucose levels over the previous 6 weeks)
  • Your cholesterol levels checked
  • Your height and weight checked
  • Your kidney function checked

Another important function of the free annual check-up is to collect nationwide information about the numbers of people with diabetes and the state of their health.

The information is collected from the completed annual review forms in a way that means you cannot be identified (in other words, your privacy is protected). The data from all the forms is then collated into national statistics. These statistics are then available to health planners and groups keen to lobby for better services in diabetes care.

As well as having a free annual check-up you may wish to keep your own record of your check-ups (and the results of these check-ups).

A sample of a typical record card with goal levels for values follows:

Date
Weight
Blood Pressure (goal≤135/75)
HBA1c (goal≤ 7%)
Total Cholesterol (goal ≤ 5.2)
HDL Cholesterol (goal ≥ 1.1)
LDL Cholesterol (goal < 2.5 )
Triglycerides (goal < 2.0 )
Microalbuminuria (ratio < 3 )
Date of last eye examination (at least every 2 years)
Foot check, sensation and pulses

If you are using a record like this, take it to each diabetes-related appointment you have. It can be very useful to you and your medical team. This is because the record card allows:

  • Each item on the record card to be checked-off during your annual check
  • A record of the various parts of your diabetes management that you can keep for your own reference
  • You and/or your health advisor to pick up on potential trouble spots – which you can then address

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