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Here are some links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_Technology_Group https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jan/26/royal-college-surgeons-slam-plans-hip-knee-replacements-ccgs https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/11/30/pensioners-left-pain-amid-nhs-cuts-hip-knee-operations/ https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/nhs-rationing-putting-hernia-patients-lives-at-risk-say-surgeons/ar-AAAaJWL https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/03/20/half-nhs-authorities-rationing-cataract-operations/ Further details about rationing - see below. Rationing NHS care = care being made to fit the budget "Clinically Effective Commissioning" We are hearing about lots of patients who are having clinically indicated treatment denied. They are told the treatment they need is no longer available under the NHS, or that they must wait for things to get worse, as they don't yet meet the higher threshold for treatment. Patients are faced with a stark choice - either pay for private treatment or go without. Under the guise of Clinically Effective Commissioning, Brighton and Hove CCG have named 107 procedures that they will either be stopped or made harder to access. And the list is open-ended. It can sound plausible: of course people want clinically effective treatments, of course people don't want the NHS wasting money on treatments that don't work. But even Brighton and Hove CCG say that some procedures are low priority because of lack of funding - not clinical judgement - and this is leading to the rationing of care. People are being turned away for varicose vein treatment, for ear blockages, for treatment for heavy menstrual bleeding, for knee pain... the list goes on and on and on. We have had patients contact us to say their doctor said they would benefit from a procedure/treatment but the NHS no longer funds it: your only choice is to go private or go without. Sussex Defend the NHS is outraged at this betrayal of NHS principles - and local Brighton and Hove Councillors on the Health Overview and Scrutiny committee (HOSC) are extremely concerned and are waiting for the CCG to give further details of the number of people likely to be affected and the clinical evidence that might show that some of the procedures on the list are genuinely not useful. HOSC is the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee - the council body that should be scrutinising local health service provision. Please contact your councillors about all these issues. The brilliant local artist Nic Watts - who designs lots of our campaign materials - is allowing us to use his copyrighted designs on postcards that can be sold. Our lovely friends at the iO gallery (Brighton Designers and Makers) have agreed to stock the postcards. They'll cost £1 to buy with a good percentage of that coming to us! So, rekindle your love of the postage system and get sending! Here is a sample of Nic's fabulous work.  |
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Sussex Defend the NHS Archives
February 2023
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