Procedures axed by NHS this week

[MrsFogi]

It seems to me that the axing of a number of the operations on the list will either only hit women or hit women disproportionately:

• D&C for heavy menstrual bleeding
• Breast reduction
• Hysterectomy for heavy menstrual bleeding
• Varicose Veins

Are we going to leave women who have become severely anaemic due to heavy bleeding to suffer? I suspect if men had periods this would not have been cut.

I can't believe people have been so damn stupid to trust the Tories on the NHS or not care enough about the NHS to make sure they didn't get elected to power. The NHS won't last the year...they are turning it into a very basic service provider so that we have to go privately for the rest.

A Dr wrote a book on how it would be possible to dismantle the NHS and they seem to be following it like an instruction manual.

Glue ear can lead to deafness. None of these surgeries are unnecessary.

None of this is new. These regulations have been around for years. They don’t mean that you can’t get a hysterectomy for heavy bleeding, it just means you’ll have had to try a mirena and uterine ablation first (which for the majority of women is successful, less risky and cheaper).

Regarding hysterectomies for heavy bleeding, I had fibroids and serious flooding which was entirely resolved by the insertion of a Mirena. Amazing piece of kit. My GP said pretty much every woman HCP in the place had one. So trying one as a first step seems reasonable.

calm down and try to get some perspective - they are not 'axed' as the pp said.

These are procedures for which there is no evidence of clinical efficacy in the vast majority of cases. It’s not in anyone’s interest to be subjected to surgery which may do more harm than good.

And the procedures have not been banned. They are just no longer the sledgehammers used to crack nuts that they used to be.

But I’m very much with the PP talking about not trusting the Tories with our NHS.

I had a breast reduction 2 1/2 years ago. It has transformed my life: No more crippling back and neck pain. I think l would have had to give up work without it. Constant high level pain all the time. I was a 30J. Now I’m a D cup

For some of those conditions there are alternatives that could be tried before surgery. But other conditions that were on the list such as glue ear and Dupuytren’s need surgery to correct them as both conditions are disabling. DH is a Dr and was horrified when he read that list.

We already have healthcare rationing and it’s clearly going to get worse. That’s what we get for voting Tory I’m afraid.

consider increasing population, increasing demand because of the availability of procedures (and the expectation that there is a cure for every ill and everyone is entitled because it is 'free') plus of course all the infamous PFI contracts (labour did that) it is not difficult to see how resources are limited.
It is only labour and the left-wing press that continue to over-egg the situation so that they can scream 'evil tory government'
The NHS has long been in trouble - people need to recognise they cannot 'demand' their particular 'medical' needs are met to the detriment of treatment for others they consider less worthy.

Interesting that gender reassignment surgery is not on the list

It’s got bog all to do with the Tory government - do you honestly think labour or any other party could suddenly magic up the extra cash the nhs needs? People are living longer, more illnesses can now be treated, new treatments are often expensive, the nhs cannot fund everything. There is a simple solution - increase taxes hugely, but that won’t be popular either.

If these procedures are labelled as "ineffective" "unnecessary" will private health insurers duck out of paying for them?

My sister has a top notch private plan she kept on after retirement. She recently had a scare with sepsis. Once she was over the worst but still needing lots of antibiotics etc she explored transferring to private hospital, just to be in a more restful environment really. Not possible. You have to find a consultant willing to oversee your case and no one would take her case on.

Then she reviewed t's and c's as she is developing a cataract. Conditions arising from ageing are excluded. I think that was specific to eye related problems otherwise no one would get a hip replacement covered. But fair to say she is reconsidering bothering to keep on paying for it.

So if you are considering taking out private insurance it may be better simply to put what you would be paying in premiums into a savings account and in a few years you should have enough to pay for some of these procedures without the hassle and argument.

Price list at my local BMI hospital you are looking at £2.5k for most of these smaller procedures.