We have seen in recent years how effective it can be for the public to participate in consultations on ending NHS homeopathy: in Liverpool and the Wirral, when the Clinical Commissioning Group asked for the thoughts of members of the local and national public, they received overwhelming support for ending their spending on the ineffective treatment. As a result of the decisions by NHS Liverpool CCG and NHS Wirral CCG to stop their homeopathy spending, NHS homeopathy in England was restricted to the London and Bristol regions.
As we reported in June, NHS Enfield CCG opened the first public consultation on ending homeopathy spending in London, and we invited you to submit your thoughts, with the consultation closing on June 30th. We anticipate the outcomes of the review in the coming months… but now the spotlight moves to the Bristol region.
Three CCGs in the South West are currently holding a joint consultation on ending their homeopathy service, which sees around £200k spent on the ineffective treatments each year. The consultation takes the form of a simple online form, which takes no more than a few minutes to complete. The deadline for submissions is August 15th, so it’s important to act quickly.
NHS Bristol CCG, NHS North Somerset CCG and NHS South Gloucestershire CCG are the last health bodies outside of London still to fund the treatment, and they are asking for your thoughts on their plans to end their homeopathy services. If they have enough support, they will close homeopathy funding, removing one of the final sources of NHS homeopathy spending. As such, this consultation is tremendously important, and would be a significant step toward the end of NHS homeopathy.
We know that homeopathy supporters in the area are very active, and we are certain they will be responding to the survey to urge the CCGs to keep funding homeopathy – a strong show of support from the public can help health bodies stand up to that pressure.
If you live in Bristol, North Somerset or South Gloucestershire, it is particularly important that you take part – but if you don’t live in one of those regions, your views will still be appreciated and taken into account.
Once you’ve shared your thoughts via the online form, please encourage others to do so to. You could share a message like this:
I’ve shared my thoughts on whether the NHS should keep funding homeopathy in Bristol. You can too: https://www.bristolccg.nhs.uk/get-involved/nhs-service-proposals/decommissioning-homeopathy/ @GoodThinkingSoc
Please join us in taking 2 minutes to help ensure NHS funds are not wasted on ineffective treatments.
