Which commissioning areas are West Yorkshire and Harrogate CCGs intending to standardise?
Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in the West Yorkshire and Harrogate sustainability and transformation partnership (STP) are to standardise elective policies.
The move is expected to save some £50m a year, according a briefing document published by the CCGs joint committee.
Standardising commissioning policies has been an aim of the STP’s 11 CCGs since they first set up the joint committee, Health Service Journal (HSJ) editors have reported.
The first two specialties to be targeted are elective orthopaedics and ophthalmology, both of which show wide variations in referral to treatment rates.
Overall, the CCGs hope to reduce demand by 10% through standardising referral and treatment.
Other areas scheduled to receive attention are procedures of limited clinical value and looking at patients’ fitness for surgery (including offering help with smoking cessation, weight loss, alcohol and mental health problems) and medicines management.
It is anticipated that the STP’s CCGs will make progress on adopting the standardised policies at different speeds; but they are all expected to make the changes over time.
Further information
HSJ: STP region aims for huge savings across elective care
West Yorkshire and Harrogate Joint Committee of CCG: Agenda item 27/17: elective care and standardisation of commissioning policies: decisions to proceed