Oh that's a shame. My diabetes nurse at the surgery told me that loads of patients had been given new bg meters last year at the hospital clinic near us and she apologised because she was unable to do the same. She said she was going to contact Roche and other companies to enquire if she could get freebies to hand out to her patients. Maybe it was just a one off thing then. I still think I should ask for a referral to the hospital. Do you get treated by a specialist team at the hospital? Can you give me some idea how the treatment differs between them both?