Post by kickingfrog on Sept 19, 2016 8:53:57 GMT
Comment on Vale of York CCG plans to delay surgery
02 September 2016
Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has introduced commissioning policies which will significantly delay access to all non-cancer planned surgery for smokers and patients with a BMI of 30 or more. The CCG has indicated that these policies are being introduced to address the significant financial challenge it is facing.
Responding to the introduction of these policies, Miss Clare Marx, President of the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS), said:
'The policies being introduced by Vale of York CCG are some of the most severe the modern NHS has ever seen. Smokers and overweight patients should unquestionably be helped to stop smoking or lose weight prior to surgery for their overall health. We would support any attempts by Vale of York to expand its weight loss and smoking cessation programmes, but introducing blanket bans that delay patients' access to what can be life-changing surgery for up to a year is wrong.
In some cases patients needing surgery may find it difficult to lose weight, for example if they have mobility problems. Their condition may also deteriorate if made to wait unnecessarily for surgery.
As the true scale of financial pressure on NHS trusts has become clear over the summer, we are fast finding ourselves in a situation where CCGs are introducing Draconian commissioning policies, often flouting NICE or other clinical guidance, in order to balance the books. An honest national debate on exactly what the NHS can afford, and what we are willing to pay, is urgently needed. '
www.rcseng.ac.uk/news/comment-on-vale-of-yorks-plans-to-delay-surgery#.V9-k04grKM8
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...A health authority which suggested it would deny non-life threatening surgery to the obese and smokers has said it will put its proposals on hold.
The plans by Vale of York clinical commissioning group (CCG) could have meant that patients who exceed a body-mass index (BMI) of 30 would face delays in receiving some NHS surgery for up to a year.
Leading medics said it could become part of growing trend in hospitals which would see the overweight have elective medical procedures denied as a bid to cut costs.
The restrictions were described as the 'most severe' policy the modern NHS has seen by the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS).
But the North Yorkshire authority said it had been asked to review the plans by NHS England.
It said in a statement: 'NHS England has today asked us to review the draft approach, which we will now do, and will hold off implementing anything until we have an agreed way forward.
'We will ensure any plans are implemented in line with national guidance, are in the best interests of our patients and are clinically robust.'
A spokesman for NHS England said denying operations to a particular group ' such as smokers ' was 'inconsistent' with the NHS constitution....
www.eveningexpress.co.uk/pipe/news/uk/obese-and-smokers-face-denial-of-surgery-amid-cost-cutting/
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02 September 2016
Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has introduced commissioning policies which will significantly delay access to all non-cancer planned surgery for smokers and patients with a BMI of 30 or more. The CCG has indicated that these policies are being introduced to address the significant financial challenge it is facing.
Responding to the introduction of these policies, Miss Clare Marx, President of the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS), said:
'The policies being introduced by Vale of York CCG are some of the most severe the modern NHS has ever seen. Smokers and overweight patients should unquestionably be helped to stop smoking or lose weight prior to surgery for their overall health. We would support any attempts by Vale of York to expand its weight loss and smoking cessation programmes, but introducing blanket bans that delay patients' access to what can be life-changing surgery for up to a year is wrong.
In some cases patients needing surgery may find it difficult to lose weight, for example if they have mobility problems. Their condition may also deteriorate if made to wait unnecessarily for surgery.
As the true scale of financial pressure on NHS trusts has become clear over the summer, we are fast finding ourselves in a situation where CCGs are introducing Draconian commissioning policies, often flouting NICE or other clinical guidance, in order to balance the books. An honest national debate on exactly what the NHS can afford, and what we are willing to pay, is urgently needed. '
www.rcseng.ac.uk/news/comment-on-vale-of-yorks-plans-to-delay-surgery#.V9-k04grKM8
**********************************************
...A health authority which suggested it would deny non-life threatening surgery to the obese and smokers has said it will put its proposals on hold.
The plans by Vale of York clinical commissioning group (CCG) could have meant that patients who exceed a body-mass index (BMI) of 30 would face delays in receiving some NHS surgery for up to a year.
Leading medics said it could become part of growing trend in hospitals which would see the overweight have elective medical procedures denied as a bid to cut costs.
The restrictions were described as the 'most severe' policy the modern NHS has seen by the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS).
But the North Yorkshire authority said it had been asked to review the plans by NHS England.
It said in a statement: 'NHS England has today asked us to review the draft approach, which we will now do, and will hold off implementing anything until we have an agreed way forward.
'We will ensure any plans are implemented in line with national guidance, are in the best interests of our patients and are clinically robust.'
A spokesman for NHS England said denying operations to a particular group ' such as smokers ' was 'inconsistent' with the NHS constitution....
www.eveningexpress.co.uk/pipe/news/uk/obese-and-smokers-face-denial-of-surgery-amid-cost-cutting/
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