Groin hernia patients are having to "prove their pain" and show they have complications to get surgery, the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) has said.
The RCS said harsher restrictions may amount to "rationing".
The RCS said harsher restrictions may amount to "rationing".
RCS senior vice-president Susan Hill said: "It's difficult to prove categorically that these CCGs are introducing harsher restrictions for inguinal hernia surgery to make financial savings. However, we have seen a significant increase in CCGs that have acknowledged rationing surgery in other ways, for example by smoking status or BMI, to save money, so this may be the case here." She added: "Allowing commissioning groups, not patients with their surgeon, to make a decision to operate is putting patients at unnecessary risk of serious complications."
David Sanders, from the British Hernia Society, said patients were being denied access to a procedure that potentially limits pain and improves quality of life. He said: "The NHS has to be very clear about what it offers. Does it want a value for money service with quality and safety as a priority or a rationed service that will inevitably put some patients at risk?"
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