The NHS may have to stop funding some surgical procedures to save money as bosses bid for additional funding. If the health service cuts down on 13 elective surgeries and "wasteful" spending to save money could save up to £2 billion.
The proposed cuts fit into a wider debate within the Government as it tries to find cash for its fiscal "black hole". NHS chiefs, with assistance from senior medics at the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, have drawn up the list.
They advise that operations specified in the draft guidance should lose routine funding. These include procedures like liposuction and tummy tucks and corrective surgeries such as congenital breast asymmetry and male gynecomastia.
They advise that NHS professionals should only perform some procedures under specific criteria and said they routinely review treatments to ensure British taxpayers receive their money's worth. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Professor Sir Stephen Powis, the NHS medical director, said the service aims to give patients "the most effective treatments possible at an affordable price for taxpayers" and that they "routinely assess and change services to make sure they are as efficient as possible".
Professor Powis stated officials have already cracked down on "medications and interventions that are of low value for patients and take money away from the public purse". Already targeted are prescriptions for herbal remedies and dietary supplements that he said have "historically cost the taxpayer millions".
Professor Dame Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairman of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, said the programme would allow officials to redirect cash "towards those things that are proven to be beneficial".
The latest list of 13 follows others previously devised by officials that promised a further crackdown. They proposed axing 31 procedures in 2020 and among them is non-elective treatments such as adenoid removal for glue ear and imaging for lower back pain.
The cost of living crisis is also hitting the NHS which has left bosses looking for additional funding. They hope to find up to £7 billion which is just under five percent of the service's annual £152 billion budget.
Without this funding, they warned cuts would eventually filter down to more vital treatments like cancer and mental health. Right-wing think tank The Policy Exchange suggested the proposed plans to defund procedures could save up to £2 billion.
