GPS warn councils over cuts to weight management and addiction services

♦ GPS are being put under pressure as councils reduce services aimed at preventing ill health, an investigation has found.

Nine out of 10 councils have cut funding for weight management, sexual health and addiction services in an attempt to save cash.

Some areas are scrapping the services altogether, a survey of 80 councils found, leaving GPS to try to cover the gaps. Doctors have warned that cutting preventative healthcare will put a greater strain on the NHS in the long term.

The research, conducted by the GP publication Pulse, found that only 11 out of 80 councils that responded to a Freedom of Information request had maintained spending at last year’s levels. Drug and alcohol treatment services have been one of the biggest casualties, with 87 per cent of councils cutting funding, followed by sexual health at 83 per cent and smoking cessation services at 79 per cent.

Some councils have cut weight management completely, raising the risk of patients needing surgical intervention because preventative strategies are unavailable.

Dr Richard Vautrey, chairman of the British Medical Association’s GP committee, said: “These short-sighted cuts will cost the NHS in the long run as we don’t properly invest in prevention and health promotion.”