Residents in Lancashire and South Cumbria encouraged to have their say on new clinical policies

The NHS in Lancashire and South Cumbria are working in partnership to review and develop clinical policies across the region.

The eight Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in Lancashire and South Cumbria have all agreed that there is a need to develop their policies collaboratively to ensure a consistent and fair approach for everyone across the region. All policies will be created following National Guidelines and best clinical practice to make sure that the  resources available to us are being used to maximum effect for the whole local population.

As part of this ongoing process, four draft policies are now open for patient and public engagement, feedback, and comments. Three of these policies relate to the mandatory guidance issued to CCGs by NHS England as part of their second wave of Evidence Based Interventions (EBI2), which are reviews of procedures and treatments supported by NICE and Royal Colleges. The patient access criteria for these policies have already been consulted upon nationally so does not need to be repeated. The fourth is a new local policy for the Lancashire and South Cumbria region.

The CCGs across Lancashire and South Cumbria wish to inform patients and members of the public about these new policies and to invite them to consider if the introduction of these policies will have an adverse effect on patients or groups of patients.  If this is the case, there may be something the CCGs can do to minimise the impact of this.

Lancashire and South Cumbria residents are being asked to have their say by visiting the Lancashire and South Cumbria Health and Care Partnership website and completing a short survey, comments on this policy should be submitted by Friday 19 November.

Mr Andy Curran, Executive Medical Director for the NHS in Lancashire and South Cumbria, said:

“The CCGs in Lancashire and South Cumbria are responsible for commissioning a wide range of health services, including some hospitals, community, and mental health services and for paying for those services, for and on behalf of, the local population. A key role for the CCG is to develop clinical policies that help to make decisions about the use of the limited resources available.  We know how important it is that this is done in an open, fair and transparent manner and that local patients and the public have the opportunity to have their say. I would encourage any resident with an interest in these policies to visit the website and take part in the surveys.”

Find out more information about current clinical policy reviews and have your say.