Forum topic: Enfield NHS commissioners to go ahead with cuts to services at meeting on 20 September

The governing body of Enfield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is set to approve stricter criteria for access to specified surgical procedures at its meeting tomorrow (20th September). The meeting at Holbrook House, Cockfosters, is open to the public and starts at 12:30pm.  Campaigners are planning to congregate outside the building from 11:30am to show their disgust at reductions the availability of NHS services masquerading as "clinically evidenced" changes.

The poster used to publicise the AEBM consultation. Hearing aids and knee replacements have now been excluded from the planned restrictions, but there are still a further 11 treatments that will be affectedThe decision follows a controversial consultation on so-called Adherence to Evidence-Based Medicine.  However, during the consultation NHS campaigners, led by Defend Enfield NHS and the Enfield Over 50s Forum, were themselves able to produce evidence undermining the CCG's arguments that the changes are being brought in for purely clinical reasons, rather than as part of a set of desperate measures to balance the CCG's books.

"Unnecessary procedures"

The CCG claims that its financial woes are in part due to hospitals carrying out unnecessary procedures.  However, a far more plausible explanation is that from the very time it was set up the CCG has never received adequate levels of funding from the Department of Health - a point on which both the Labour administration and Conservative opposition on Enfield Council are in agreement.

Hearing aids and knee replacements safe - for now

Two of the surgical procedures that were consulted on have been removed from the list.  Patients with moderate hearing loss will continue to be fitted with hearing aids on the NHS, and the criteria for knee replacements will remain as now, at least for the time being.  The CCG is, however, still planning to introduce stricter criteria for knee operations, once better arrangements are in place for patients to access physiotherapy and be helped to lose weight.  When that time comes the changes will be implemented without a public consultation.

Stricter criteria to be extended to other north London boroughs

The CCG has stated that the Clinical Commissioning Groups in  the other four boroughs that make up "North Central London" - Barnet, Haringey, Islington and Camden - "will be seeking to implement the same proposed changes over the next few months" despite the fact that the residents of those boroughs have not been consulted.

What procedures and treatments are affected?

The changes that were proposed in the Consultation Document will be put in place for the following procedures/treatments:

• Bunions (hallux valgus)
• Hernia
• Vasectomy
• Uterovaginal Prolapse
• Revision Mammoplasty
• Revision of Hypertrophic scars
• Penile Procedures (Penile Implants)
• Cholecystectomy for Gallstones
• Chalzions
• Correction of Ptosis
• Decommissioning of Homeopathy