About the review

We are in the process of reviewing over 100 policies for routine health treatments and procedures to reflect the latest medical evidence about what works and what does not work for patients. These policies are called Criteria Based Clinical Treatments and are being reviewed in stages.

From June to December 2017, the first two phases of the review were carried out in collaboration with six other neighbouring CCGs including Southport and Formby, Warrington, St Helen’s, Halton, Liverpool and Knowsley.

The first phase included the review of 36 policies, 18 of which required a degree of change for patients and which underwent a 3 month period of public and clinical engagement.

The second phase involved reviewing 17 policies relating to back pain which have been updated in line with the compulsory back pain and sciatica National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines released in November 2016. As some of these policies involved procedures that are linked, they have been grouped together into 6 policies, making it easier for doctors and patients to find.

Work is underway on the next phase of the review and further information about this will be available in the near future.

Progress so far

Phase 1 and 2 outcomes

Alongside the clinical evidence, your feedback from this work has been reviewed and the proposed changes approved by the CCG’s Governing Body, with the exception of:

• the age restriction for breast surgery, which will remain the same at 18 years
• an amendment to the statement at the beginning of the Commissioning Policy 2014/15 allowing children to have access to surgery based on cosmetic or psychological reasons.

The revised policies for each treatment/procedure came into effect on 1 April 2018

The updated policies and further information about the review are available here. The summary engagement report providing an overview of the feedback received can be viewed here.

How to get involved

At the moment we are not asking for your views, but when the next phase of the review is underway we will let you know how to get involved.

Easy read guides

We have produced a range of easy read documents that tell you more about the review:

• Easy read leaflet
• Easy read FAQs

Visit the ‘How we use your views’ section for examples of where your feedback has informed our work, plans and strategies.