Health chiefs have been asked to withdraw a consultation document by Enfield Council’s Health Scrutiny Panel, asking residents their views on what medical procedures should be offered to patients for conditions such as hearing impairment, hernias and knee replacements.
The Clinical Commissioning Group, (CCG), is in the process of reviewing which treatments will be offered for a range of health conditions, with a final decision taken based on which types of procedures and medicines are most cost effective. A consultation is being held to gather patients and residents views on the plans which, if agreed, would see some treatments deemed ineffective being withdrawn.
At a meeting held on 22 March, the Panel heard representations from the CCG, which gave an overview of the consultation process relating to the ‘Adherence to Evidence Based Medicine’ programme.
Members of the Panel discussed the consultation document and listened to the views of the public in attendance, before agreeing to request that the CCG withdraw the current consultation document and devise one which provides more comprehensive background data relating to medical evidence.
The Chair of Enfield Council’s Health Scrutiny Panel, Cllr Abdul Abdullahi (below), said: “The Enfield NHS Clinical Commission Group (CCG) is proposing a review of some non-urgent treatments to tackle its £7.7m annual deficit. Where medical evidence highlights that intervention is not effective, criteria will be applied to each individual case before a treatment pathway is confirmed.
“We have asked the CCG to provide clearer and more detailed medical evidence to demonstrate that they are able to withdraw these treatments without causing a serious impact on the health and wellbeing of our community.”
The Scrutiny Panel’s decision follows a call by Enfield Council’s Cabinet Member for Health & Social Care, Cllr Alev Cazimoglu, for the CCG to extend its consultation by two months until the end of May to enable more people to take part in it.
The consultation is scheduled to end on 30th April.
