Chair's blog

Have your say on how we spend NHS money in Redbridge

As a local GP I know only too well the pressures that the NHS faces both here and across the country at the moment.

The care and treatment that I, along with my GP colleagues, provide every day for our patients is funded by taxpayers’ money – your money. That’s why we have a duty to make sure we get the best value we possibly can for every penny – especially when NHS funding is being severely squeezed.

Earlier this year we asked patients and residents to get involved with helping us decide how to spend local NHS money wisely. Feedback was received from people across the borough and as a result we made some decisions about treatments, procedures and medicines the local NHS will no longer fund. This first set of changes – to NHS prescribing, gluten-free products, cosmetic procedures and IVF – should amount to around £3 million of savings this year.  

These savings are essential in helping us to tackle the £55 million financial deficit we face, however we need to do more. As a result the CCG, which is responsible for planning, buying and monitoring NHS health services for local people, is running Spending NHS Money Wisely 2. 

We are considering:

• no longer paying for certain types of ear wax removal, some injections for lower back pain, and osteopathy
• restricting who is eligible for cataract surgery and podiatry
• no longer prescribing some ‘over the counter’ medicines and products (e.g. anti-malarial medicines, probiotic supplements and sunscreens).

We have taken advice from healthcare specialists, such as pain management consultants, when developing these proposals and will consider the potential impact of any changes as part of our decision making process.   

Now once again we want to involve you, and are asking you to tell us what you think of our proposals.

No decisions have been made - we want to hear what you think about the proposals. Follow this link for more information and to read our Spending NHS money wisely 2 proposal document and complete the accompanying questionnaire to give us your feedback by 5pm, 15 November 2017.