Diabetics are disappointed that “life-changing” high-tech glucose monitors are being made available to only a select number of patients.

The Freestyle Libre sensor, which reads blood sugar levels via a device worn on the arm and therefore prevents people who suffer from the chronic condition from having to constantly prick their fingers, will be prescribed by the Canterbury and Coastal Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) from next year.

But the technology, used by Prime Minister Theresa May, will only be given to type 1 diabetics who have to test more than eight times a day, and will not be available through GPs.

Frazer Edwards, of Edward Road, Canterbury, says this means many will miss out despite flash monitors reducing the risk of complications such as hypoglycaemic attack when blood sugars fall dangerously low.

The 26-year-old switchboard operator says Freestyle Libre - which at a cost of nearly £100 a month, he cannot afford - would vastly improve his quality of life.

“It would be so life-changing to have it,” he said. “I wouldn’t have to draw blood in public, which is horrible. People look at you like you’re diseased.

“Blood sugar levels are difficult to manage, and can rise and fall so rapidly.

“It should be fully available for everybody on their prescriptions. But it just seems like they are picking and choosing, which is not how it should be.”

Freestyle Libre is widely available on the NHS in parts of the UK but local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) decide if it should be commissioned for their areas, creating a “postcode lottery”.

Retired schoolteacher Jan Quince, 64, who is also type 1 diabetic and requires between five and six insulin shots most days, said she was “devastated” to hear of the new criteria.

“I’m really disappointed,” she said. “I just think it’s unfair that it’s funded by some primary trusts and not others.

“We’re meant to have a national health service, but that is not national.”

Mrs Quince, of Lower Road in Faversham, has a flash monitor which she purchased herself, but says she can’t afford to use it regularly despite it giving her much better control of her blood sugar levels.

“I check my levels more regularly,” she said. “And if you have better control, you are not going to be developing more serious problems with your eyes, or amputations.

“All my fingers have got holes, and I have also got calluses. Pricking your fingers is really horrible, especially if you’re out in a restaurant or on holiday. A flash monitor just makes life so much easier.”

Helen Whately, the MP for Faversham, has called for the sensors to be made available on prescription, saying they give people with diabetes “much greater peace of mind”.

“I know just how important that is – as well as receiving emails about this, I have a close friend and a cousin with diabetes,” she said.

“For both of them, it makes life so much more difficult. My friend worries that if she doesn’t manage her diabetes right, she might not be there for her children – but Freestyle Libre has taken so much of that worry away.”

“We’re meant to have a national health service, but that is not national...” Jan Quince

A spokesman for Canterbury and Coastal CCG said its decision was based on NHS England guidance.

A spokesman said: “Following an extensive and thorough review, the four east Kent Clinical Commissioning Groups have agreed to develop a policy to allow FreeStyle Libre to be made available on prescription later in the New Year.

“It is expected that the monitoring system will be available on prescription from diabetic specialists for a limited number of patients once the necessary policies, training and processes are in place. This is likely to take several months to agree and patients will be updated once completed.”

NHS England has pledged to make the sensor available to all patients who qualify under its clinical guidelines from April 2019.