40% of NHS trusts to cut routine ops in new bid to save money
FOUR in ten health trusts are planning to slash the number of routine operations they fund in an attempt to save money, a think-tank warns today.
This would lead to patients facing much longer waits for non-urgent procedures such as hip and knee replacement surgery, or being denied them altogether.
The King’s Fund said National Health Service managers were increasingly having to make ‘tough decisions’ on how to spend their money.
The think-tank surveyed the financial directors of 48 Clinical Commissioning Groups – local health trusts – on their priorities for 2017/18.
Seven said they had already decided to reduce the amount of ‘activity’ – or operations – and 13 said it was ‘under review’. Twenty-four CCGs said they definitely would not reduce activity and four did not know.
There are 207 CCGs in England and if these findings are representative, then 42 per cent are considering restricting surgery. The survey also found 52 per cent of CCGs had been forced to delay or cancel spending plans to improve care because they were trying to balance their books.
Another 63 per cent were concerned they would not be able to increase spending in mental health, despite it being a key NHS priority.
Richard Murray, of the King’s Fund, said: ‘ With many CCGs planning to delay or cancel spending, local NHS leaders will be forced to make tough decisions about priorities and this is likely to have a direct impact on what care patients can access and how long they have to wait for it. This reinforces the underlying reality that demand for services is continuing to outstrip the rate at which the NHS budget is growing.’
Earlier this year NHS chief executive Simon Stevens said patients would face longer waits for routine operations so more money could be spent on cancer treatment and GPs.
But doctors’ leaders said many health trusts were more concerned about balancing their books than improving care.
Dr Mark Porter, of the British Medical Association, said: ‘The NHS is now in a position where it has to put off spending because the money has run out, leaving patients waiting in pain and uncertainty. This is a disgraceful failure of our patients – financial targets shouldn’t take priority over the need to provide safe and high-quality care to those in need.’ Janet Davies, of the Royal College of Nursing, described the figures as a ‘wakeup call’.
She said: ‘It cannot be fair that patients in half of England will wait longer for certain operations – many in pain and discomfort – as the NHS cuts costs. Some patients won’t get treatment at all as the postcode lottery in care is entrenched.’
CCGs have already begun slashing routine surgery including hip and knee replacements and varicose vein repair.
In January, for example, three CCGs in the West Midlands announced they would deny hip and knee replacements for patients unless their pain was so severe they could not sleep.
The figures are in a document from the watchdog NHS Improvement, obtained by the Health Service Journal. They are based on a ‘do nothing’ scenario where officials prioritise other services, which many CCGs now appear to be doing.
‘A disgraceful failure of our patients’