OVERWHELMING opposition to cuts in treatment and prescriptions must be taken into account by Wyre Forest Clinical Commissioning Group, a new report released today stated.

A report from the Worcestershire CCG released on Thursday, July 21, found a huge 88% of respondents fiercely opposed cuts to provide knee and hip replacements.

Reducing physiotherapy for minor injuries as well as cataract surgeries for people with vision difficulties was also hotly contested, with 80% of respondents in opposition.

The report stated "Wyre Forest CCG should therefore strongly consider the likely negative response that they may have from patients if funding in these areas were to be cut".

Feedback from the questionnaire – and recommendations – will be taken into consideration by the CCG when establishing ways spending in the district can be reviewed.

Dr Simon Rumley, Chair and Clinical Lead for NHS Wyre Forest CCG, said the task of providing efficient savings makes it difficult to commission such services.

He said: "Each year we’re tasked with making efficiency savings and this is making it tougher to be able to commission services as we do now.

"This is why we have asked our local population to get involved and highlight what’s most important to them."

Among the popular suggestions was support for alternative consultation methods with GPs (63%) and support for urgent GP appointments to patients registered elsewhere (62%).

The most popular proposal for services in Wyre Forest was restricting access to ‘over-the-counter’ medicines for minor conditions, with 63% of respondents in favour.

Restricting treatments for patients with unhealthy lifestyles (50%) as well as access to prescriptions of gluten-free foods (42%) also proved popular.

Yet 85% of respondents in the district opposed reducing opening hours of Minor Injury Units, while 64% were against reducing community beds in favour of increased home care.

Wyre Forest CCG, which serves a total of 112,000 patients and has a budget of approximately £127 million, was one of three Worcestershire CCG’s involved in the survey.

Produced by Worcestershire County Council, a total of 4,409 residents across the county took part in the survey.

Dr Carl Ellson, Chief Clinical Officer for NHS South Worcestershire Clinical Commissioning Group, said: "We’re very pleased with the number of people that responded to the survey, this indicates how much people care for their local services and how willing they are to shape what we do in the future."