Spending NHS money wisely 2
Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge (BHR) CCGs has today (20 September 2017) launched ‘Spending NHS money wisely 2’, a consultation to look at how they can reduce spending in certain areas as one of the ways to address their financial deficit of £55 million.
They are considering:
No longer funding:
• Ear wax removal
• Some injections for lower back pain - disc, facet joint and epidural
• Osteopathy
Restricting who is eligible for:
• Cataract surgery
• Podiatry
No longer prescribing some over the counter medicines, including:
• Anti-malarial medicine
• Probiotic supplements
• Sunscreens, etc.
If all implemented, these proposals could save up to £3.9 million a year.
To find out more, please read the consultation document and respond to their questionnaire. These are available on their websites:
- www.barkingdagenhamccg.nhs.uk/spending-wisely
- http://www.haveringccg.nhs.uk/spending-wisely%20
- www.redbridgeccg.nhs.uk/spending-wisely
The eight-week consultation will run until 5pm, 15 November 2017 and they will actively seek feedback from members of the public and stakeholders via an online questionnaire and a series of presentations and public drop-in sessions, details of which will be on their websites.
They are keen to speak to as many people as possible about our proposals. If you’d like them to come and talk to your group or organisation, please get in touch by emailing: haveyoursay.bhr@nhs.net
Earlier this year BHR CCGs ran the first phase of the ‘Spending NHS money wisely’ consultations, where they asked for feedback on proposals to stop funding certain procedures, treatments and medicines. You can see Healthwatch Redbridge's response here
This first set of changes – to NHS prescribing, gluten-free products, cosmetic procedures and IVF – should amount to around £3 million of savings this year.
