West Cheshire NHS proposals to stop providing certain treatments

West Cheshire NHS Consultation

 

– On proposals to stop providing certain treatments

The West Cheshire NHS Clinical Commissioning Group has launched a new consultation today which runs until the 17^th of January 2017. They are consulting on which services, if any, it should cease to fund. West Cheshire CCG is consulting whether to cease funding or make available on a more restricted basis the following list of procedures:

• Surgery for the correction of asymmetrical breasts
• Surgery for breast reduction
• Surgery for Gynaecomastia
• Hair removal treatments
• Surgery to remove benign skin lesions
• Desensitising light therapy using UVB or PUVA for PMLE 
• Ear wax removal including microsuction
• In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) with or without Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) 
• Surgical Sperm Recovery (Testicular Epididymal Sperm Aspiration (TESA)/Percutaneous  Sperm Aspiration (PESA) including storage where required
• Donor Oocyte Cycle – depending on outcome of consultation relating to IVF
• Donor Sperm Insemination
• Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) unstimulated 
• Sterilisation (male & female)
• Arthroscopy – Shoulder, (document explains includes knees and hips) 
• Dupuytren’s Contracture – surgical and nonsurgical interventions
• Knee replacement 
• Hip Injections (excluding bursitis)
• Erectile Dysfunction 
• Percutaneous posterior tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS) for urinary and faecal incontinence.

The text below is taken from the NHS press release:

In September we launched “Our Savings Plan” to start a frank conversation about the challenging financial position facing the local NHS and the savings we must make in 2016/17 to help ensure a sustainable, high-quality health and care system in West Cheshire – both now and in the future.

There are many reasons for the financial challenges we face, not least that we have a fast-growing, ageing population and more people than ever are being diagnosed with long-term conditions.

This means that demand for local health and care services is rising faster than our budget. We simply do not have enough money to continue to buy all the services we currently do in the same way as before. If we did, in 2016/17 alone we would spend £13m more than our budget.

As this challenge is similar in many areas, the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) for West Cheshire, Eastern Cheshire, South Cheshire, Vale Royal and Wirral, have come together in partnership to ask the public for their views on proposed changes to some services that we currently commission.

A consultation has been launched which is asking the public and other stakeholders for their views on the proposals, building on work already undertaken to engage with local people about the challenging financial position facing the local NHS and proposed changes to services.

Dr Andy McAlavey, Medical Director, NHS West Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group comments: "This is the first time that CCGs in this area have come together to seek the views of the public and stakeholders as we continue with our programme of changes. Our aim is to ensure that the services we provide are effective and sustainable whilst we continue to encourage people to lead healthier lives. It is important for us to make the best use of our resources and we are encouraging people to have their say."

Consultation Cheshire and Wirral Clinical Commissioning Groups are undertaking a formal consultation on the proposals detailed in the consultation documents below to explore them in more detail and obtain feedback from patients and the public. The consultation will run from Tuesday, October 25, 2016 to midnight on Tuesday, January 17, 2017.

How to share your views
As part of the consultation we need your views on the proposals and to understand the impact they may have on you. To hear what you think about the proposals you have a variety of opportunities to give your feedback. You can fill in the questionnaire included in the consultation document below and submit by post to, SRP consultation, NHS West Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group, 1829 Building, Countess of Chester Health Park, Liverpool Road, Chester CH2 1HJ

By email – send your completed surveys to: enquiries.wcheshireccg@nhs.netIf people are hard of hearing, have sight impairment, English is not their first language or they require the information in an alternative format, please contact 0800 132996 or email: enquiries.wcheshireccg@nhs.net'

Copies of the consultation documentation and surveys can be obtained from West Cheshire CCG.

Winnington Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Plant Opened

Winnington Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant is officially opened.



Tata Chemicals Europe has recently officially opened a new steam turbine, hailed as one of the most efficient in the UK. The £5.5 million turbine is housed at their Winnington Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant which is operated by Business Heat and Power Solutions (BHPS), and is now one of the most efficient plants in the country, capable of providing energy for 200,000 households – an area roughly the size of Liverpool!
Working together to maximise the energy efficiency of this site is proof of the great relationship between Tata Chemicals Europe and E.ON.

Taking advantage of heat energy as steam and using it more effectively means we can help reduce this site’s carbon footprint while making sure a chemical works (which has been operating since 1874) continues to go from strength to strength in such a commercially challenging time.

The project - backed by a £2.5 million European Regional Growth Fund grant from the UK government - has taken 2 years to complete. It’ll help provide energy for Tata Chemicals Europe’s sites across Cheshire, local businesses in the area, and also for the National Grid. The steam used to generate electricity is a by-product of industrial procedures at the Tata Chemical plant, recapturing spent energy and reducing overall energy demands.

Generating this electricity means it doesn’t have to be generated elsewhere on the grid - saving 71,000 tonnes of CO2 in the UK, and going a long way to help the government meet decarbonisation requirements of a 75% reduction by 2030. The government is seeking to achieve nearly 60% reductions in carbon emissions by 2030 - this type of initiative is a crucial part of making this happen.

Peter Houghton (Tata Chemicals Europe’s General Manager for Energy) said: “This has been an unbelievably good project, and a really complex one that underpins our energy business moving forward. It simply could not be more important to the business.”

This new turbine is a great example of the way that EON's Business to Municipalities (B2M) works hand in hand with customers – their success is ultimately our success so the relationships are crucial.

As an employee of EON I am very proud of the investment and commitment shown in such important developments that secure business, jobs and improve our impact on the environment here in Cheshire.